It's Not Rocket Science
by roadkillAB
Summary: Rocket Raccoon has a lot of secrets. One of them is he once had a girlfriend who left ten years ago leaving him young and devastated. Now he got over it- until he figured out she didn't. When Sarah Lightning comes back and brings a few other of Rocket's former friends- or enemies- with her, whatever life the Guardians of the Galaxy have managed to establish gets turned upside down.


 **Chapter 1: Nightmare**

Tubes connected to my body in several places. A muzzle was wrapped around my mouth preventing me from crying out. Scientists wandered in and out of the lab, conducting their grizzly experiments. Tools gleamed cruelly, surrounding me. The sounds of other subjects rang out. Some creature shrieked from somewhere. I didn't dare look down. I knew I was cut wide open. Exposed. Vulnerable. I knew my organs were not at all what they used to be. They had been transformed and torn apart countless times. I was an abomination. I woke up from the nightmare panting. Me and my friends are guardians of the galaxy. I didn't know if I was doing it right or not though. I'm no hero, it's wrong that I'm trying to be. No one should have this much responsibility. Afraid of letting down the universe.

"I am Groot." I shared a room in this ship with my oldest (and really only) friend, a mutant humanoid tree named Groot. "Yeah. It was a bad dream. But I have one of those every night."

"I am Groot."

"No, I don't miss her and even if I did she has better things to do than tag along with us."

"I am Groot."

"I don't think DJ would want to join this team. You knew her. Besides, we don't even know if she's still alive. She gets herself in enough trouble without us." Once I had another friend. One who helped me out with my old career as a bounty hunter. The same girl who broke me out of that cursed lab. I owe a lot to her but I never got the chance to repay her before she left our little crew. Of course that was years ago. _How old would she be now? Eighteen?_ I wondered. One thing about this team was they weren't prejudiced about who I was. They didn't taunt or stare because I was an animal. Usually. I felt like one of them. I wasn't the only one out there like this. I just had absolutely no idea where the remaining three were. And frankly, I didn't want to see them again. That and I'm pretty sure I'm the last person they want to see.

I got dressed and went out into the control room where the rest of our small star bird team awaited. "So, where we going?" I questioned.

"Thakon," Peter Quill replied.

"Uh, why?"

"Cause our new recruit's there."

Confusion and curiosity clouded my mind. A Thakonian would be _useful_ to have on the team but not necessarily _helpful._ People from Thakon thought themselves superior to all other races and certainly wouldn't take orders from a Terran hybrid. They did however have strength to rival even Groot's and could rip apart titanium starship's with ease. Al, Quill's pet owl gave a responsive chirp.

"You don't think we're good enough how we are now?" Gamora's reaction matched mine.

"We're good enough. As in we have the skills but I think it would be a good idea to get a new guy. Or girl." Of course if he was going to get a newbie it would be a girl. Most likely a hot blonde. Even though the likelihood of a Thakonian accepting us was still doubtful. About an hour later we landed on the surface of the class D planet. It was three times larger than Terra with a population of eighteen billion, give or take.

"She should be coming pretty soon," said Quill.

"Rocket?! Groot?!" A teenage girl with raggedly cut short blonde hair with silver streaks the color of platinum. Her eyes were silver and all across her body were silver swirls and markings. I knew who she was. "DJ? You're the new recruit?!" "Yeah! I had no idea that you were..." she trailed off. "You two know each other?" Quill stared at the little reunion. "We were real close a while ago. I lived on this guy's ship for like five years." DJ didn't tell him that she broke me out when she was very young and I was grateful for that. All my doubts about Thakonians went away when I saw DJ. I knew she hated her race and there customs. She had been my friend and ally when Groot and I thought it would be just us. When she was sixteen, however, she left my ship because her "Path led in a different direction." I had missed her for a while but my life had been so complicated at that point that I really didn't have a lot of time to focus on that. "This is our ship." Quill is very proud of his ship despite the fact that it has crashed, blown up, and been ripped apart several times. "Wow. It's very...gray?" "You wait until you've spent a few months here then you'll have something better to say." DJ leaned in close and whispered to me: "Any word on Sarah?" bitterness consumed my mind at the mere thought of the girl who claimed to be like me. "No. I haven't seen or heard from her since you last did." I growled. I wasn't upset at DJ. She was only curious. "You haven't heard from...any of them?" "Nope. And I really don't think Sparrow wants to see me. Even if he was alive. " "Well you're probably right about that. If I remember him correctly that guy had issues." "Talk about it." I knew of his crimes better than anyone. I had endured a lot of them. I was happy to see my old friend again and I also couldn't help thinking there was a different, darker reason as to why she was here. Even though Quill hired her I still couldn't shake the ominous feeling. I sighed knowing that it was only going to get more complicated from here. If only I knew then that "Complicated" is always a huge understatement with us. **Chapter 2: Meet Lexi** It had been a couple of days since the arrival of our newest member and not much had happened. Yet. I was pretty sure that was a really big "yet." DJ had always been flirtatious. She had been known for it when she was on my team. It would seem that she found herself a new target: Peter Quill. He was neither accepting or rejecting the affectionate gestures but I had always figured that he and Gamora were a thing. I'm sure all of us did. Gamora would hate me for saying that though. I met another new girl today as well. One who I had already met. And like a lot of my relationships this one starts with an attack. "Crap! We've been hit! Battleship ahead!" Quill exclaimed. Al screeched and flapped his wings violently. "Wait. I know that ship!" I pointed out. Our bird lurched again. "And I strongly advise you to stay the hell away from it!" "I know it too! And i've had the misfortune of making acquaintances with it's captain." Gamora grunted as she was thrown backwards. "Is that Laika's _Heathen?_ " Quill seemed to recognize the vessel as well. I wasn't surprised considering the fact that Laika was the most infamous ravager captain in the Drenkorin Quadrant. "What do you want, Laika?" Quill inquired angrily. "We want what all the ravager crews have been looking for since you assembled you're... _team."_ Laika's British voice was laced with cruelty. I never knew her, but my old ship which was now lost, the _Aviator_ had encountered the _Heathen_ and I was no better for it. Just hearing her voice gave me a good idea of her personality. I hated Laika already and from what it sounded like, Quill did too. "And that is?" "You're capture. Now that we've got that established I will inform you that you are vastly outnumbered and it would be wise of you to simply surrender yourselves and in return you have my word that I won't kill you." "Right. And you expect us to believe that? In any case, we'll never surrender to you or anyone else." "Then we'll simply obliterate you're ship and everyone in it." "There's something you're forgetting." "Really?" then we began moving again. "This ship has a cloaking device." _we do? Awesome._ "Take that, %!? /" Quill muttered as he fired at the ravager ship. "Peter, we don't stand a chance in this vessel. Don't try to shoot at them! Just retreat!" shrieked Gamora. "Oh, flark a tractor beam." "And now we're going to die anyway." We were trapped in the docking bay of the _Heathen_ standing apprehensively, muscles taut and guns cocked. The door was kicked open and sure enough, I saw Captain Laika for the first time with my own eyes. She was all she was said to be. She had a strong, well-muscled frame, skin as black as charcoal with whitish diamond-colored eyes. A long scar ran from the side of her head all the way across her forearm. "Oh. You must have known Lexi." It took me a moment to relize she was talking to _me._ "L-Lexi Blaze? You know her?" "She's part of us. A little too soft for my taste though." _Lexi a ravager? Never. She wouldn't last two seconds with these people!_ "Rocket? What are you DOING here? I haven't seen you since forever!" Lexi half-whispered fiercely. She was a raccoon like me with chestnut and black fur and green eyes. I hadn't seen her in a long time. "I couldn't help it!" "You know her too?" Quill asked. "Long story." "Captain, you aren't going to _kill_ them are you?" "Lexie, stop being so pathetically weak! Why not, you take this as an opportunity to kill your first. Kill the rat." I guess Laika figured she'd be so intimidating that if she divided her attention from her captives they wouldn't make a move. Ordinarily this is the case but we aren't any ordinary "captives". I simply shot a hole in her. She fell backwards as blood erupted from her chest. I knew she wasn't DEAD but she was going to have some problems.

"Oh, my gosh, tell me you did not just do that!" Lexie's vibrant green eyes were huge.

"Are you trying to get me killed?!" she panicked.

"No. We're trying to get ourselves free." I retorted.

"See you haven't changed. Still the same selfish rogue who's afraid of death." she shot back and I admit, the words stung a little.

"Who's the ravager here?"

"Laika kidnapped me when I was really young. So young I don't remember living anywhere different. I've seen the things you and Sarah and Sparrow had to endure and I don't recall living that nightmare. I know it sounds crazy but...I owe her for that."

"Well, that's about to change." Quill pulled her onto his ship and the rest of us followed, darting up the steel ramp.

As our vessel started, we watched the _Heathen_ disappear in the glistening darkness.

"Honestly, I don't think you'll miss her." I remarked to Lexi. I've never seen her hurt anyone. She's so much better than me it's incredible. I almost felt guilty that Quill had dragged her into all this. Now who knows what would happen from here.

"I know, it's just..." Lexi's sentence trailed off and I knew how she felt so I finished her sentence, "You've never known anything different." she nodded. I knew that her life would only have continued being painful and sorrowful if she stayed.

"I believe, or at least hope that you'll like it here better."

"You know we haven't seen the last of her. She'll be back."

"Who, Laika? We can take her. We conquered Ronan the accuser... Barely."

"So maybe you _have_ changed."

2 Weeks Later Lexi had stayed even though she had had doubts. Personally I was happy about her decision since, what else was she going to do anyway? She was like me and, most likely had thought she had no place in the world. I had too until these guys came into my life.

"So are you going to join us?" I inquired hoping I didn't sound too eager.

"Oh, I don't think I have what it takes. I am by far, the weakest on this ship. I think I'll just find something to do with my life."

"What career could possibly be more fulfilling as protecting the universe?"

"I've been thinking about it I just don't think I'll be much of a contribution."

"OK, how do I contribute any more than you did on these past few missions?"

"You're the most skilled marksman I've ever met."

"You're really good with that sword." I gestured toward her signature weapon.

"I don't know. I think it's too soon."

I sighed. "Alright but when you're done thinking about it let me know." Lexie started to walk away but I called her back. "Wait. I'm sorry for asking this question of you but I have to know. Do you know anything about the whereabouts of Sarah or...that evil boyfriend of yours?"

"Sparrow's doing what he always did. Sarah however, I have no idea where she is. I've tried to find her. And him." I had too. The search had always been in vain. Until I basically said, "Screw her" and stopped searching. When Sarah walked out on me she blinked out of existence completely. It was as if she was never there in the first place. Like she was never meant to be there. Not in this world. I uncovered a photo from a metal container from under my bed. A photo I hadn't looked at since it was taken. Sarah and I were sitting side by side in the _Aviator_. We were somewhere around sixteen and she looked beautiful like she always did.

"How could you hurt me like this?" I whispered.

"I am Groot" the giant treelike creature rumbled.

"Yeah. She did make me happy."

"I am Groot."

"I did try to find her. Remember? I failed."

"I am Groot."

"Once. Once I loved her."

"I am Groot."

"Groot, she abandoned us! Abandoned me! So no, I don't anymore! Why can't you understand these things?!" my friend looked hurt and I instantly felt ashamed for losing my temper.

From the moment I got to know her I knew that she was going to be a heart-breaker. That she was going to be hard to convince. I guess I underestimated that, because, just when we started to love each other as teenagers, one morning at age twenty-two I woke up and Sarah was gone. Forever. "I'm sorry I snapped. I can't expect you to understand love. Or heartbreak."

"I am Groot." This sentence which I had heard hundreds of billions of times brought a flood of emotion to my heart. He had said: "I may not understand your complex emotions but I know love. And I miss her as well. And I love and care for you and wish she would come back so you would no longer suffer." and for once I couldn't think of anything to say to that. **Chapter 3: A Sign** Life for me hadn't changed much except of course, the addition of Lexi and DJ even though neither one had officially become guardians. DJ livened up the ship considerably and Lexi had brought something different: A sweetheart demeanor. Something nobody had before. Also DJ was kind of a show-off when it came to missions, looking for any excuse to punch a hole in something, or kick a door in. It was on a mission when I found a sign that let me know Sarah wasn't completely gone and she hadn't completely forgotten. The sound of gunfire echoed throughout the area. An explosion went off somewhere. Seemed like we were just fighting normal mercenaries and this was a normal job. To some degree, this was true. Except for one crucial thing. I took cover behind a jagged black rock before blasting someone who yelped as he landed hard on the gravel. I hissed as my forearm tore open. Lexi's sword flashed in the sun and Gamora contributed with her blade. "We've almost driven them away! DJ fall back to the area over there!" Quill commanded. He came very close to being killed by a grenade but threw it back. This, by the way was nothing new for me. A bullet whizzed past my head but didn't hit it, Gamora wrecked an enemy and another guy was cut down and defeated. Finally, their leader called out to them, "Retreat! We shouldn't have underestimated them! We will return!" As they were running, they left something behind. Something that alerted me to the fact that my ex-lover was still alive-and so was my enemy. A communication device, similar to the ones we use, was laying on the ground. A voice was coming out of it. The voice of one of the few people that scared me to death. One that chilled my very soul. "What's going on? Did you complete the mission? Guys?! I already told you the objective: Find Sarah! Do whatever it takes, but find her! Kill anyone who stands in your way! And if, by any chance, you happen to find Lexi as well, grab her too." I realized with shock that the thickly British accented voice belonged to Sparrow Night. And he was hunting Sarah Lightning. Not on my watch. "Rocket, what's the matter? You are coming aren't you?" Quill asked impatiently. I considered picking up the device but thought better of it and crushed it instead. DJ was carrying Lexi who was unconscious and Gamora had taken a blow to the head. Then I followed my team inside the _Milano_ as I had done many times over but this time, with a darker feeling about it. About this planet, and about Lexi. "What are you hiding?" said DJ inquisitively. I was inside a room with DJ and Groot talking. It had been several hours since the mission, and it was 8:00 PM. "What makes you think I'm hiding anything?" "Because I know you. And I know when there's more to the story that you don't want to tell." I sighed. She did know me. She knew me too well. "I am Groot." "No, I didn't find anything while fighting those mercenaries. It was just like every other mission. Nothing more" "You're a pretty good liar, but I still know when you're not telling the truth." DJ stared at me slyly. I wasn't lying. I just was...not telling the truth. There is a difference. "Okay, I did find something." "And that is?" "Proof that Sparrow's never going to stop." "Wait, I thought Sparrow was dead. What did you find?" "Not telling." "Well, I might leave the subject for tonight but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna ask again tomorrow." "I am Groot" apparently, Groot knows the truth. He may have limited vocabulary but he is so much smarter than me sometimes. And he doesn't even really have a brain. Does he? I never really thought about it before. _I'll have to ask him at some point._ The good thing is, DJ can't understand Groot therefore, she still doesn't need to know. I don't know why I don't want anyone to know about that. About Sarah. Groot, Lexi, and DJ are the only ones who know I was even in a relationship. I didn't want anyone knowing about the possibility of that relationship being reenacted. Not that I want it to be. Sarah broke my heart and the worst part of it is she did it for no apparent reason. I got over her and the wound healed. Now here Sparrow was, very much alive, to rip it open again. For a long time Sparrow and Sarah were together. Then I held her captive in my ship, Sparrow being a terrorist took his revenge on me, some woman on his crew stopped him from killing me , then Sarah and I got closer, then Sarah broke up with Sparrow and we fell in "Love". There's not much to say. Sparrow and I are enemies because of her. He fought me for her and I fought back. I always fight back. Even though I knew he was stronger than me. If he was my downfall I would feel okay because that means I did what I always said I would and go down fighting. If _Sarah_ was my downfall I'd probably be ashamed. I had no idea where I would find her. Or how I would react to seeing her again. And if Sarah did turn up then I would have to come clean for the team no matter what. Eventually I would tell them the whole story. They deserve to know why I've never mentioned Lexie or DJ. Sarah had been a terrorist too. I figured that she'd changed when she was living in my ship but what if I was wrong? That she was still the cold-blooded killer that told me "I hate people like you. Weak losers who can't tell a sword from a shield and still say that their like the people who aren't afraid to do some damage to get what they want." She had been proud of the amount of victims she killed and the buildings she burned. We all had killed our fair share but those two had been horrible. I know Sparrow felt shame about it but Sarah...she was a mystery. Like the ghost that haunts my past. "You're awful quiet." DJ said carefully. "You know my past is weird. Now there's a possibility that it might all happen again." "Hey, I still don't get it. I watched Sparrow die." "What we saw wasn't Sparrow's death. We watched the building he was in explode." I muttered thoughtfully. "Right. Which amounts to a barbecued raccoon." "DJ, he's escaped death before. He must have found a way out since I'd recognize that voice anywhere." "Because you hear it in your nightmares?" she teased. "You weren't there thankfully when he did his scary terrorist thing." "You mean when he tortured you. I saw what you looked like after and it wasn't a pretty sight." "Well I couldn't help it! I'll show you what it's like being a Klash captive." Klash was the name of the terrorist organization Sparrow led. A little too punk-rocker if you ask me. I realized just how much I liked DJ and I remembered why we were friends in the first place. That doesn't mean she can't be annoying sometimes because believe me, she can. "Can I tell you something and I want you to know I mean it?" questioned DJ. I shrugged. "Sure." "I missed you." **Chapter 4: Sarah returns** I didn't sleep well that night. I couldn't help thinking about the past I always kept so hidden. I kept hearing Sparrow's chilling accented voice in my mind. _"You can believe whatever you want but you know she'd never choose you. No matter what you tell yourself you'll still never really accept her. You're just too weak for her."_ _"Just because I don't burn buildings to the ground for fun and kill people like their nothing doesn't mean weakness." "Your body count's high enough. You and I both know that." "Oh believe me I know I'm a bad guy but the good thing is, I'm not half as bad as you."_ The question remained, obscure and unanswered: Where is Sarah Lightning? I knew the only way to answer it was to find her. And I REALLY didn't want to do that especially with Sparrow hot on her tail. My phone blipped as I got a text. I figured it was from DJ. I considered ignoring it. I didn't. (Quill: Seems like there's more to ur past den ur willin to share.) (Rocket: I don't have to tell u everything do I?) (Quill: I waz just wonderin if u WANTED to talk about it.) (Rocket: Well I don't.) (Quill: who's Sarah?) (Rocket: HOW DO U KNOW ABOUT DAT?!) (Quill: DJ got a big mouth.) (Rocket: O my gosh i'm gonna kill her.) (Quill: Still haven't answered the question.) (Rocket: Yeah? I wasn't plannin on it. $! &*(!#%%*&^%?) (Quill: Doesn't matter.) (Rocket: Like I have to tell u. We all left our pasts behind when we joined this group a ragtags and i'd like to keep it that way.) (Quill: thats almost deep 4 u.) (Rocket: Shut up.) (Quill: I'm not saying anything. And if I was u couldn't hear me.) (Rocket: I'm outta here.) (Quill: Hey I knew her too once.) I didn't pay any attention to that last message. Didn't even read it. Maybe I should have. I was thinking about how exactly to get a message across to DJ when my phone blipped again. This time I DID ignore it. I also considered if I was doing the right thing walking away from my past life and leaving it for dead. I hated the guy I was before that much and if I ever encountered him that's what I would've done but Sarah... _oh gosh,_ I realized. _I'm going to go insane if I keep thinking about that cursed woman._ I guess girls have that effect on people. DJ was lucky. She just wanted the intimation of a romantic relationship but never stayed long enough for it to be called "love". What in the name of Laborgia does that name mean anyway? Finally I consented to checking my stupid phone's messages to see what that was. What I saw on the small screen made me let out a strangled cry. (Hey 89. thought u should know i'll be comin back.) 89. A derivative of 89p13. My lab name. And what Sarah used to call me. In fact I've never heard her call me "Rocket" even once. Why would she put me through all she put me through and now here she was saying she'll be on the first flight home? It made no sense. It was in fact a cruel thing to do, especially to someone that she supposedly loved years ago. If what she was saying was true then there's a possibility that we might not have needed to find Sarah after all. I stared at the recording machine in the room. I hadn't done a log in days. I guess now was as good a time as any. Quill made us create these vocal logs that we were supposed to be doing every day. I often forgot. I pushed the button on the device.

"Uh this is Rocket Raccoon reporting on October second. I haven't done one of these since Monday and it is now Friday. I've been preoccupied what with Lexi's return and everything. The team's started to get curious about my past and I know I'm gonna have to come clean eventually. Sparrow's alive and as you can imagine I'm almost scared. I don't want to admit I'm scared. Of anything, but it's not like anyone's gonna listen to this. I'm also worried about Sarah. Again, hate to admit that I'm worried about the girl that walked out on me especially since I know she can take care of herself just fine. That is either a very good thing or a very bad thing, considering her crimes. Once more if Sparrow shows up...heavens help us all. Of course he's going to be underestimated at first. I was. It's kind of a natural reaction for people like them to see people like us. I don't know why I'm doing this. After all no one's gonna care about my ridiculously complicated life even if this thing does get uncovered someday. I hate Sparrow he hates me the chances of a battle arousing are pretty strong. Especially when it comes to a girl. I'm not even into the whole relationship thing. I never have been. Weird how I ended up with a bloodsucking, backstabbing, love-killing,soul-crushing, terrorist. And she still wonders why we broke up." I ended it there. I didn't have much else to say anyway. I hoped that Sarah _wouldn't_ come back. I didn't want to see her again. I didn't want to worry about her again. Well it was too late for that second one but I hoped I'd be able to forget her again. I was wrong. I never got the chance to forget about her or the message because, as much as I wanted to believe the text was simply a prank from DJ, that it meant nothing, it wasn't. I learned _that_ the next day. My night terrors were even worse than usual that evening. And when I woke up the sheets had long claw marks across it and pillow stuffing was everywhere. I shook my head at the mess and walked out of the room, apprehension, for some reason, fluttering in my stomach. Al was out of his cage and was flying around my head screeching. "QUILL! IF YOU DON'T TELL YOUR STUPID BIRD THAT HE CAN'T EAT ME I'M GONNA PUT IT IN THE OVEN!" I roared. Gosh, I hate that thing. "He's an owl you're a rodent. Deal with it." he replied unsympathetically. " _Peter!"_ Gamora snapped in a shocked tone. "Not the 'R' word!" if I hadn't been busy fending off the stupid thing I would have got mad at her for defending me. "Shoo! Get out of here!" I tried batting it away. Al flew up out of my reach then descended back down. Quill loved his pet and thought there was no nicer bird in the world. I glared at it and finally gave up. "I am not particularly fond of the winged creature either." Drax said. "I don't think anyone is except him." I said gesturing toward our leader and commander. Al was now perched on Groot and making appreciative trilling noises. Groot didn't seem to mind. As long as it left me alone. "I am Groot." I frowned and turned to look at the plant humanoid. "You can speak owl?" "I am Groot." "Like I care what it thinks of me." "I am Groot." "I'm sure that me liking it wouldn't make a difference." DJ was talking to Quill in an unbelievably tiny outfit. That's when I realized, she wasn't just attracted to Quill, she was entirely infatuated with him. She giggled and tossed her short hair. "Oh, please." Gamora muttered, mimicking my thoughts completely. Why do girls giggle when their around a boy? Is it some kind of biological reaction or do they seriously find everything we say absolutely hilarious? If I was Quill I would have tased her a long time ago. _Ech. Terran courtship_. I turned away from the awful sight of those two with a happy heart and turned my attention to the development of a bunch of mines. "You know if you keep using parts of the ship to create weapons their won't be anything left of this vessel." Quill commented. I didn't really care what he thought. After all, he was benefiting from my creations just as well. I tried to become completely focused on the work and block all other thoughts and sounds. This was difficult when I was so distracted by the thought of my ex coming back into my life. Not to mention my forgotten enemy. One thing that had become a known fact: The Guardians of the Galaxy will never live a normal life. We will never be what people call "normal". We knew what we were getting into when we started this gig. Normal? Seriously overrated. Something jolted our ship knocking us forward. "Not again. I hope that isn't the ravagers again coming for revenge." Quill ground out. I would rather take the _Heathen_ any day compared to what we really found. Nobody was harmed and Quill decided to go down and follow the crashing ship. We landed on the ground of a planet and their in front of us was a small ship even smaller than ours which is comparatively small. I recognized the vessel though I didn't show it. _It's probably stolen. It can't be...no. Someone probably stole it. I wouldn't be surprised._ I kept telling myself it had something to do with the fact that her main quadrants were crime-filled. That it couldn't possibly be... The door opened. I didn't want to see didn't want to put myself through it. What came out was a small shaken figure with a thick tail dark purple eyes, sharp canines...oh no. One of my worst fears was coming true. "89?" My expression was hard as I stared back into the amethyst pits that I had looked into so much in my past. "How could you come back, after what you did to me?" I said coldly. "This is why I wanted you to talk about it." Quill muttered. "Shut up Quill." I hissed. " _Jason?!"_ Sarah Lightning was staring back at me and at...Quill I realized. "How do you know her?!" I demanded making a point that I had no intentions of talking to the girl who broke my heart. "It's been _ten years,_ Sarah, and _now_ you come back. You weren't there when I needed you and now that I _don't_ you show up. _Why?_ " I hadn't wanted to say the words, but I did and now they were out. "Because I wanted you back." I scoffed in disbelief. _I can't believe this_ "This is about Sparrow isn't it?" I questioned even though I knew the answer-and hated it. She opened her jaws to speak but I cut her off. "Yes I know he's alive, my opinion of him hasn't changed no questions asked." the reply was brisk but it was meant to be. I wanted to say as little to my ex-girlfriend as possible. "Weren't you a terrorist?" DJ inquired. She had always been involved in my history but personally I think she was more scared of it than anything. "Yes. But I'm not anymore." DJ scoffed at Sarah's answer. "Says you." she muttered just loudly enough for her to hear. Sarah's deep purple eyes flashed angrily but she didn't say anything at the remark. "So um...what do we do now?" Gamora asked Quill who didn't seem to know the answer any more than she did. "Maybe you should come with us seeing as how it's going to take some real work to get your original ship to fly again. I'm afraid that's my fault by the way." he admitted. "Come with you? In that rust bucket?" she sneered. Quill glared. "That is the starbird, _Milano_ I'll have you know!" If he had known Sarah like I do he would've been able to easily predict her retort. "Like I care." "I might just tie you up and throw you in there just to teach you something." "I'd like to see you try." "Careful what you wish for." "I've burned down entire cities believe me that piece of scrap metal is going to be no problem." "I'd like to see you try!" Fortunately Gamora broke up the argument before it could get too heated. "Peter! This is not worth this." Quill reluctantly let go of the bickering leaving a glaring Sarah standing there. "Quill? Can I talk to you for a minute?" My tone was warning enough so he would understand this was important. "What?" I realized that I couldn't explain to him exactly _why_ it was a bad idea to bring Sarah onto the ship without telling about our entire history. "You can't bring Sarah Lightning onto our ship." I informed. "...why?" "Because...you see-she's-you know-well-...she's my ex." "Oohh-kay. Why is that such a weird image?" "Will you just shut up right now?" "You still haven't given me much of a reason to go back on my decision." "And she is way more dangerous than she looks. Believe me I know what I'm talking about. You have to be merciless to be part of Klash and she might not be a member of that group any more but she still has that in her." Quill looked unconvinced as he glanced at Sarah. "I'm pretty sure we can take her. Look, how about we try this and we'll see what happens?" I sighed. "Fine, but if this goes wrong I'm blaming you and don't say that I didn't warn you." he rolled his dark eyes and walked back to where I could hear Lexi speaking to Sarah. "How _dare_ you hurt him like that and then come back again? I always knew you were despicable but never this bad. I curse your name, Sarah Lightning." I was shocked that Lexi was talking like this she was always sweet and reserved and yet here she was defending... _me._ "Lexi Blaze. Always the delicate sweetheart. Angel in the Battle they call you. Do they know that you stole Sparrow from his girlfriend?" her jaw fell at these words. "Sparrow never _told_ me he had a girlfriend and it wasn't until you left him for someone you didn't even keep that we actually became something. He may have died or not died, but at least I gave him the respect of loving him until the end and staying with him. Where were _you_ when that building burned down in flames?" Sarah hissed and looked as if she was about to slash the other girl, but I grabbed her paw. "She's done nothing to you. Do with me whatever you want but I won't let you harm an innocent." She growled and lowered her claws.

"No one is innocent." Sarah said so only I would hear. I stared after her as she stepped up the clanging metal mesh ramp and I followed her. "When you told me you weren't a virgin, I didn't know what to expect but, as far as rodents go she's not too bad." stated Quill, maybe out of spite. He knows I don't like that word. "She's not a rodent." "yeah,yeah." it wasn't much of an answer and it certainly wasn't a promise. "So what went on between you two?" I wasn't sure how to answer this. I could lie. My past has always been a touchy subject. However I didn't lie. "I loved her I thought she loved me and she walked out on me. Nothing else to say." Mercifully he didn't pry for details, especially since these ones were particularly gory. "When you said 'Sparrow' tell me you didn't mean Sparrow Night, the Klash leader?" clearly he wasn't ready to drop the subject of my history. My answers to his questions were short and curt. I think Quill knew that I didn't like talking about my past. Every time they had asked about I before, I had avoided the topic. "The very same." I replied, trying to prevent myself from squirming because if anything I wasn't about to show just how uncomfortable this was making me. "Did you have a run-in with that guy?" I shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "Yeah a couple." "What did you do to make him hate you so much?" "I held his girlfriend captive then fell in love with her." This seemed to be sufficient enough for Quill who finally dropped the subject, perhaps seeing how I felt about it. I was glad of that because Sparrow and I have a history far too bloody for this conversation at this moment. The sound of my own screaming echoed in my head until it hurt, and I felt a strange phantom sensation mimicking the traces of the scorching device used on me that were left behind by mere memory. Chapter **5: Real Bad Blood.** Sarahhated us, there was no denying that. She must hate me. After all, by now, I hated her. Th _e way_ she saw it, we were keeping her captive or something. The thoughts of Sparrow still clouded my mind. What did he want? That was the biggest mystery. Was he somehow angered by Sarah choosing me over him and now he wants to take his revenge on her? Or maybe he wants her back and he's willing to do whatever it takes to get her even if it means...I didn't let myself get that far. Of course I wasn't scared of Sparrow Night. Okay so I was a little _scared_ but so was everyone so can you really blame me? Too much blood had been spilled over the love we had shared. If only I had known then that she wasn't gonna be worth the trouble. Probably the biggest regret was I let her screw me and I screwed her right back. The way she looked at me suggested that she still wanted me probably more than I wanted her. I'll admit it. She was still really hot. She'll probably always have that effect on me. As if reminding me of that there was that horrible, primal part of me that wanted to grab her, slam her on the floor and...well, you know. That animal part of me didn't care what she had done to me in the past, what had happened between us that wasn't so pretty. All that part of me cared about was she was an attractive female and I was a male. I pushed those revolting thoughts far, far away where I'd go over them when things were...better between us if that ever happened. I tried my very best to avoid her but we were on the same ship so that proved to be difficult. And so for the next few days I did what I was supposed to on the missions, dodged Quill's questions about my past and drank. Probably more than I should have but, hey, when your ex shows up what else are you supposed to do? At this particular time Sarah and I ended up in the same room. "What do you want?" my words were frozen as they hung in the atmosphere. "I feel like we should actually talk about this." "Talk about what?" _every_ word I ground out was like black ice. "You know full well what I'm talking about, 89." "What's your game Sarah? I find out Sparrow ****ing Night's alive then you show up." "I don't know what Sparrow's after but I figured it was you again so I wanted to warn you. Also, I've been thinking about you lately and I felt like I should come back. Like you needed my apology." "I don't care about Sparrow. You've done a lot more damage to me than he ever could." "He took a blowtorch to your back." _"_ I know. Because of you." "You're gonna blame me for how Sparrow hurt you?" " _You were dead to me before all this happened." "_ I did what I did to protectyou, P13. Sparrow wasn't gonna stop hunting you down." "You could've came back after Klash broke up. After everyone thought he was dead." "You're not even _trying_ tounderstand!" "You never even called me by my first name! But now that it's over, now that we're finished, don't bother. It'll only make this worse." "It can get back to the way it used to be. If you want it to be." I could be wrong, but I could swear I saw tears in her eyes. I should have been satisfied at the sight, but I wasn't. It triggered a memory though. One I hadn't thought about in a long time. "I'm so _rry. I didn't know he would do that to you." she had told me the day after I had been torched. "It's fine. It's my fault anyway. I should've known." then her vision had blurred. "He's vicious. And I probably am_ too _." I had instantly felt sorry for this sad, teenage girl who was probably only in Klash because her bo_ _y_ _friend was in it. "Now I'm not the most sympathetic of types but it is just killing me to see you cry." "I'm sorry. I hope you know exactly how much danger you're putting yourself in, how much danger I'm putting you in, by seeing me again." "Well, I wasn't gonna say this but it was your idea." Then she had smiled. Then, she leaned forward. And I had forgotten my own name as she kissed me for the first time. "wh-what about your boyfriend?" I hadn't anything else to say even though a million thoughts had been running through my head. "I don't care. We're breaking up anyway." I hadn't known if that w_ _a_ _s a lie or not because I didn't have time to think about it as she pulled me forward, our bodies so close together that it was as if we were trying to meld into one another. I had b_ een a different person when that had happened. Young, inexperienced and really, really stupid. Well, _Rocket,_ I thought bitterly, _that's_ _what you get for falling for a frickin' terrorist. "_ Just go, Sarah. I ended things with you a long time ago." I couldn't make myself look at the expression on her face. I looked the other way as she darted away, clearly racing the tears. Maybe part of my coldness came from my pride. I didn't want anyone to say I was "going soft" but I didn't know if what I had just shown there was a karma or cruelty, but man, did I feel bad for it. And I knew that wasn't any primal instinct of an animal. That was a human emotion. And human emotions were complicated. And they were dangerous. And it was a complicated dangerous emotion that I felt now. One that was glad Sarah was back. Or maybe that was yet another animalistic instinct. Those may have been simple, but they were infinitely more dangerous. I suppressed a groan as I realized whether I liked it or not, we were going t _o be a_ thing again. I just hoped it wouldn't be for a long time because I wasn't quite ready to forgive Sarah yet. Maybe I never would be. *~* "Are you okay?" Gamora's voice cut through my thoughts. For a moment I wasn't sure how to answer that.I wasn't okaybut I didn't want the team to know that. _Curse my own pride. "Fine._ " I hoped I didn't sound too bitter. "I figured since your ex is here and everything you seem to be going through an emotional crisis." anger flashed inside me. "Of course not! I don't do that. Sarah is just someone I used to know." she looked at me flatly. "You know you woke up screaming last night?" I did know. And I hadn't told the truth about Sarah, who had been having a negative effect on me- and my dreams- but I wanted to deal with this myself. Like I did everything. Maybe one day that is going to get the best of me. "No. Sorry. And it didn't have anything to do with the people involved in my past." I lied. Gamora let it go. I know the team's trying to help but like I said I don't need anyone. "Alright guys we got a mission." Quill said. "Uh, what do we do with Sarah?" Gamora questioned. "Bring her with us of course." we exchanged glances that showed our confusion and doubt. I glared at Quill and we had sort of a silent argument. You can _'t bring Sarah. She won't cooperate._ The look he gave me said well, y _ou don't and we let you come._ _I'm part of the team._ I wordlessly retorted. _Not for long if you keep questioning my decisions._ I don't exactly know how this works. _If you_ _made a good one for once I wouldn't have to question them._ Ifwe had been having this conversation out loud I knew nothing would've changed. _Do you_ _really want to get into the subject of who's decisions are better?_ I didn't like that one. _Right now mine are. And he_ didn't like that on _e._ Fortunately the argument was forgotten- for now- and Quill hadn't gone back on his decision just like he hadn't gone back on the decision to bringing her aboard. "Aw, man are Zelenesia and Beta going at it again?" _I gro_ aned. The two planets were constantly at war with one another once more Betians were one of the most difficult species in the universe. I had heard about a lethal Zelenesian virus but I didn't know much more about it. I was pretty sure that's what this was about. "Rocket?" Quill motioned for me to come toward him. "What?" "You have to promise me you won't shoot unless I tell you to." I rolled my eyes. "I ain't promising nothin'." "Are you gonna make this difficult?" "Hey, I didn't say I was gonna shoot them. I just said I'm not gonna make any promises." "How about this, you do what the (&!% ) I tell you to do." I considered this still not willing to submit. Then I said the words I knew I _really_ shouldn't have said. "Or what?" I know what leadership means, but the only one who decides what I do is me. "You gonna shoot me, Quill?" "Don't push it." "I don't think you have it in you." "Ohh, you do _not_ want to go down that road, Rodent." this time I didn't even try to surpress the red-hot fury that rose as he called me that wretched name. "I think I just did." "I don't think you want to fight me right now." Gamora must have noticed how heated our conversation was getting and she took it upon herself to break it up. "Peter, Rocket. You are _allies_ if you _'_ ll remember correctly. You're supposed to be friends you got that? The enemies are out there." she pointed toward the window. "Wait, we're supposed to be friends?" I asked. She didn't reply to this but stalked off with a look that said: _Men!_ If you've ever been to Beta you would understand that there are few words that can describe it. However most planets are like that. And so we stood on a desert of sand the color of a Terran sky. A group of Betian warriors stood there facing off a group of Zelenesians. "Our people are dying. You have to let us get across to Veikorr." there was a shimmering, cloudless golden sky above us and four small, blinding white suns. "The Glysineth Virus will not stay in your delta it will spread to other planets including ours! We will not cease our defense on the planet." The Betian warrior was lashing his blood-red tail, his ebony horns poked out of his hair which was the same shade of deep red and he had two scarlet ridges on either side of his neck standing out against golden skin. The Zelenesian warrior had a violent scar across his eye running down his neck reaching his chest. His eyes a truly striking gold. They were both heavily armed, their scorching glares held the promise of violence. "I'm sure I've asked you this before but, why do we need to get involved in everything?" Gamora almost read my thoughts as the question was asked of Quill. "Because I don't want to see two alien generals and there armies tear each other apart." she opened her mouth as if to retort but she changed her mind. I knew it would be almost impossible to prevent this war. I told myself I wouldn't shoot. That I wouldn't lose my patience with these idiots. Right now tension between my leader and I was the last thing I needed. "What are you gonna say to 'em anyway? I mean there Betians _for the_ love of Morag. How are you gonna change their mind?" and he didn't need to say the words. The look said it all. "No idea. But you stay here." Quill glanced at me pointedly and I knew that order was mostly making sure that I staye _d_ there. I probably wouldn't. "Do not get involved in this conflict for you will compromise our pride among our people and they will surely think we are inable to defend our planet." Jay, the Betian said. "Yeah, whatever but your not solving it you're just gonna keep this up. If both of your planets are sick then why don't you both stop fighting over that useless, lifeless planet." clearly referring to Veikorr a place that was considerably far away and it didn't seem to have a place in the universe only containing countless insects and certain kinds of plant and animal life. I've been there and have no interest in going again. "Zelenesians do not negotiate with Betians!" Jettah, the Zelenesian declared to the exhasperation of everyone. I reached for my gun wanting to end this once and for all but Gamora gave me a sharp glare. "Don't you even think about it." I scowled at her but I didn't shoot- yet. "Well you could." Quill's reply was pathetic. Just li _ke I could blast your head off right now. "We wou_ ld sooner demolish their planet." Jay retorted. "The way I see it if the virus doesn't kill all of you you'll do it to yourselves." the intergalactic warriors must not have thought of that because Jettah seemed rather taken aback. "Surely a better death than letting Glythinus wipe us out. Now this is our fight and there is no reason why a useless, puny Terran should be involved." Oh _no they didn't! "Okay,_ boys, now it's personal." I noticed the aliens were preparing for battle. Come on _Quill signal us. We can take them together. Signal us!_ Our signal is really stupid but at this point I was waiting for it. "There going to kill him!" Gamora hissed and I think we all were thinking the same thing. Then I did something which was either very stupid or very smart. I shot at the Betians. " _What did I tell you?!"_ Quill's voice was almost drowned out by the battle cries of the Zelenesians. So we would have to fight them after all. "You might not know this but I just saved your life!" I retorted. "This was our battle! You have dishonored us by interfering!" Jettah shouted. "It was your battle until you attacked our leader!" I'm guessing Quill had no knowledge of the Betian sword that had been poised to impale before I had intervened. "We did not attack. We simply wished to get rid of a threat to our defenses." I couldn't believe how difficult they were. Maybe I underestimated them but I wasn't sorry for killing Jay. I might have started a war but they were going to do it themselves sooner or later. *~* We were back in the ship after a truly heated battle which fortunately didn't end in (much) bloodshed. "I told you not to shoot unless I told you to." Quill said. I didn't want to have this conversation even though, since I didn't follow orders and hadn't in the year I've been here I had known eventually we were going to have to have it. "I said no promises and if it makes you feel any better about it, I hadn't planned on it." "Yeah, but you did." "I don't have to do everything you tell me to do." "Actually, you kinda do." "They were about to kill you okay? I didn't have much choice." "I had it under control." "No. No you didn't." "You don't know that." "Well you sent us on some insane out-of-place mission we didn't even need to do! It was going to end badly no matter what!" "So, what? You decided you would make it end badly quicker or something?!" "It wasn't gonna make a difference!" "Yeah no difference at all except the fact that the Betian general is dead an _d the_ rest of them are gonna wanna take revenge 'cause that's just how they are and I'm gonna get blamed for it." Before I shot back at him I realized that he was right. Any damage we do, anyone we kill, people are gonna say it's his fault for "not keeping his team in line" or something. The thought didn't sit well with me. But I had had to choose between Quill's orders and his life. This team meant more to me than I care to admit. "Rocket, I don't want to say it but if you can't follow orders then you can't be on this team." Quill's tone was resigned. Shock was induced in me like a bullet. I couldn't think of anything to retort with. Gamora's mouth fell open, and Groot's hard wooden face had such a sad, worried expression on I couldn't bear to look at it. "I am Groot." It took a lot of self-control not to choke up at those words. He had said. "You can't. He belongs with us. He is family." Lexi hadn't formed as strong a bond with me but she looked like it. Sarah, well, I didn't look at Sarah. Couldn't. Quill walked outside leaving a stunned team behind. "He's not gonna kick you out. He couldn't. Right?" I wish I could be as certain as DJ but maybe her words were just an attempt to comfort me which is not something I needed or wanted. "I-I'm gonna go talk to him." Gamora followed him outside making this broken silence even more awkward. "I agree with the Thakonian." Drax told me. Which for some reason seemed unusual. "Sorry you had to see that Lexi." I informed the former ravager. "It's not your fault. He's overreacting I'm sure." "It's absolutely my fault." nothing was going to dissuade me from that theory because it was true. I'm doi _ng more damage to this team than good. I feel like such a loser._ **Chapter** **6: One of us Gamora's P.O.V** Gamora was standing beside Peter just outside the ship, which was still landed in Beta. It was dusk and the three great stars which served as the planet's suns were dimming to a goldish-red color. Leafless red trees with bark that coiled up there surfaces like glossy snakes were scattered throughout the region. "We need him." that's all she could think of to say. Gamora knew one thing. Rocket Raccoon was a guardian. He belonged with them. "Do we really need someone who isn't gonna listen? If he keeps that up someone's gonna get killed and I don't mean some Betian general I mean someone we know and care about or someone innocent." "Personally I think you scared him so bad he should be under control for a while." he laughed a little at those words. These days laughing seemed to be a strange and foreign sound. Especially to her who hadn't experienced much joy anyway. "Regardless of his bad habits and tendencies he is one of us. You can't forget that, Peter." Gamora knew that Peter wasn't going to banish Rocket, well, she _thought_ she knew. "I know. He challenged me to _shoot_ him _._ Not tomention he hasn't listened to me in the year he's been here and _you_ can _'_ t forget _that_ , Gamora _._ " he replied. "He challenged you to shoot him because he knew you wouldn't." she pointed out. "Betcha if he had made me twelve percent angrier I would have." this time Gamora actually did laugh. And it was a foreign but beautiful sound. "You're right though. As usual. He belongs here. Just like you do and DJ does now and Lexi and the whole gang of them." a unique kind of relief flooded into her. The kind you can only experience when you feel like you are going to lose someone you love and you don't. The kind that cannot be described. The kind most people only experience once. Gamora had experienced it countless times and would countless more times. Because they had given up a normal life. These days all she could think about was the constant danger they were in. Now her family was secure once more. She wouldn't have to think about the danger. At least for a short time. "They were about to kill me?" Peter repeated what they saw. And Gamora's worst fear. "That is true." "And Rocket shot at them, to save me?" "That is also true." Rocket wouldn't be going anywhere for quite some time. As they stood there on that Betian evening he put his arm around her and though she cursed herself for enjoying it, somewhere deep inside her pit of a soul, something glowed. **Rocket's P.O.V.** Gamora had told me that Quill wasn't going to kick me out but she also said warned me not to push it. I had no plans to do that because coming so close to losing the people I care about kinda woke me up. I began to enjoy missions more because if I was preoccupied making myself behave then I didn't have time to think about our Sarah Lightning problem. Unfortunately this was not the case when we weren't doing much of anything. We have too many of those days. This was one of them. I heard Sarah walk up to me but I couldn't bring myself to acknowledge her presence. She sat down on the floor behind where I was modifying a rail gun. To be perfectly honest, working with my weaponry was really the only thing I did on my spare time. I didn't even bother shrugging her off as she put a paw on my shoulder. "I'm sorry." she said to my surprise and devastation. She could have said anything but an apology. "For what? Leaving me for ten years or coming back?" "For anything I did to hurt you. You once told me that there was no one else you would have." I was shocked that she would bring that up. "And I meant it. I kept that promise. In all my life, even in those ten years I was never with another woman." I didn't know why I told her that. All I knew was that was a vow I had made to the Sarah I knew before she left me and somehow that held a great deal of significance in my heart. "Why?" I still didn't look at her. "Because technically we're still together." a lie. It was true what I said but that's not why I did it. Then she asked the question I knew eventually I was going to have to answer and I really _didn't_ want to think about. "Do you want it to get back to the way it used to be?" her inquiry was very near unanswerable. Now there wasn't really any denying what it was like and still is like. I stopped working and sighed. I turned to look at her. She was as beautiful as ever. Primal instincts were pushing me over the edge. I couldn't fight it. Not anymore. She had been with us for almost two weeks and I remembered in that moment why I had loved her. "You and I both know the answer." That was the only answer for such a question. I didn't try to stop her as she pushed me onto the floor. I didn't try to stop her as she leaned toward me, and I didn't try to stop her when she kissed me. I was able to look past the taint of bad blood on her lips as my bulletproof armor clattered to the floor as Sarah unstrapped them. I knew the animal half of me was going to take over eventually since this was too much for me, so I let go and let it- and her- consume me. She switched off the lights so the only light was our claws and fangs glinting among the stars out the window. It was fierce, with us both clawing and biting one another anyone who wasn't one of our species might think we were trying to kill each other but it was so much worse. She gasped and moaned in lustful ecstasy. I knew now that if I wanted to I would never be able to stop, not after I had gotten to this point. It was a good thing that our fur covered up the bruises that indefinitely were scattered on our necks and torsos from where we had been bitten. That night we weren't just cyborgs or half-animals we were in full animal mode with not a sign of humanity inside of us. every primality I had ever endured or felt was pouring out like the blood I had spilled for her and this love. I didn't even bother hiding the trills, chirps and purr-like noises that slipped out every now and then. Shame was gone, grudges were meaningless, even the cybernetic pieces within our bodies had no place right now. It didn't matter. None of it did. *~* It took a moment for me to understand why I woke up on the floor that morning. With Sarah beside me. Then I remembered. I groaned. I completely lost control last night. Not a good thing. That doesn't happen very often and when it does it never ends well. Rocket, _what did you do?_ I mustbe an idiot or something. How could I have let myself lose control?! I was supposed to hate her, and this was probably why. As long as it doesn't happen again. But the only thing harder then starting is stopping. I should have kept that leash on all that instead of giving in. I didn't mean to go all animal on her. However what's done is done and can't be undone. Now all I had to do was make sure I don't ever do that again. Sarah stirred and opened her bright purple eyes. "Did that really just happen?" she must have been just as horrified that she let herself screw me. "You started it, _K7z_ " Isaid teasingly using part of her lab name the same way she used mine. "Are you mad at me for it?" I considered this. "No. It's my fault anyway." I sighed. "You, think everything's your fault." she was right. It wasn't normal but these days I did. Then the only thing that could make this situation any more horrifying happened. "That's where you two were all night." a voice cut in. "QUILL! Uh, HELLO?!" In all my life I have never been so mortified. After my leader walked away I covered my face with my paws. "Next time we'll try a closet." Sarah giggled. I looked at her, uncovering my face halfway. "There's gonna be a _next time?!"_ she fell into hysterics. "Can you at least _try_ to contain yourself?" I asked her though I knew there was laughter in my voice too. Later we were both avoiding one another again and if we did run into each other we would make sure to talk about anything but lastnight. "Quill, we have to endure you and your Terran mating rituals every time you see a girl, and I can't spend some time with Sarah without someone walking in on us?" I was still mad about that. "Hey, I'm not judging you in fact I'm happy for you. I don't see a reason for you to be embarrassed." he replied and I wondered if that was true. "You wouldn't seeing as how your a hooker with more flirting experience than any self-respecting guy should ever have and can have and still keep a shred of pride in them." it might have been a little hypocritical of me to talk about pride but it got the point through. "You have too much dignity." Quill answered. I, personally don't think there is such thing. "Yeah, and you're shameless." I shot back. And he was. The most shameless person I have ever met. Though I couldn't deny the fact that if it weren't for Peter Quill's shamelessness the universe would have been obliterated. "If I wasn't I wouldn't be who I am now would I? " he said in a way that suggested he didn't agree with me completely. "And we would be all the better for it." I snapped. "And I thought you said she broke your heart." "She did." "And yet you slept with her." at these words I did feel a little embarrassment. "Yes I did." "Nice job." I tried not to get angry at these words trying to remember who I was talking to, that in his mind this _was_ som _e_ thing to be proud of. _It must suck to be Quill._ I thought even though he might disagree. I hadn't asked Quill how he knew Sarah. And knowing him, something tells me I don't want to. A part of me didn't care. Eventually I was going to ask him about it, or maybe I'd just ask her. If Sarah had been the subject of so many of my thoughts before, now she was all I thought about. Well, that and Sparrow. I couldn't comprehend the British former terrorist. Or his intentions. There was something else I was thinking about wondering if it was a threat to what we protected. The Glythinus Virus. We knew it was lethal but my question was, _how_ lethal _?_ What worried me about viruses was, you can't _fight_ them _. T_ here wasn't a bomb in the universe that could stop a sickness. If this got dire then we would have to come up with another way to fight or we would do the thing that I knew Quill was afraid of and what would be the doom of us all. Something I would die before letting it happen. Failure of the guardians. I saw Lexi staring out the window into the black infinity of space. I knew what she was contemplating. I walked up to her maintaining a distance, not making a sound. It was a good way to be and not normal for me I have to admit. "I heard you say he's still alive." she said quietly. "I'm sorry Lexi, I was going to tell you. I just didn't want to cause you anymore pain." It was the truth. I should've told her, but I was so preoccupied with everything I didn't let myself care. Like I've been doing my whole life. "I'm not upset at you. I couldn't be anyway. I just want to know where he is." I felt guilt and sympathy starting to weigh down. Ordinarily, I would've done something mean or selfish and just keep living my life not caring about much else but this time I let it push down. "I don't know where he is. All I know is he's looking for you. Somewhere out there he still loves you and probably always will." I don't think I've ever said something so comforting. "I wish you didn't hate him so much." Lexi's voice cracked and if I didn't want to see _Sarah_ shed _te_ ars then seeing _Lexi_ crywas going to be real sad. "I-well-Lexi it's not exactly like that...it's complicated." I wish I could have said something better but I wasn't going to lie to her. I did hate Sparrow but I didn't know how to tell her that. "You can tell me. I know he hurt you." this was yet another one of my touchy subjects. "It's not what you think. I did hurt him back." Not a lie. I had ripped his chest wide open with his own dagger in four places. "What did you feel watching that building burn down?" this surprised me. I hadn't really thought about it. I could recall that vividly. Watching him die or rather, _thinking_ that _yo_ ur watching him die. "First of all I felt bad for you." The memory flashed in my mind. " _Lexi_ I _'m sorry, we HAVE to go!" I had shouted at her. "We can't just leave him here!" she screamed. "We'll be killed!" I pleaded. "YOU'RE A COWARD!" Lexi had yelled the words as I desperately pulled her out of the building about to burst into flames. "Yes! Yes I am a coward but I'm gonna be a dead coward if we don't get out of here right now!" I had pushed her out and I hadn't looked back. Then standing outside there as it went in a blazing inferno was one of the defining moments of my life. I remember how Lexi screamed. I remember feeling a sense of doom which I hadn't expected to feel at the moment where my enemy died. But in that moment there was no grudges. He wasn't an enemy. Not at the last minutes of his life. I will never know how he survived._ "And I knew things were going to change." I finished with no other way _to_ finish _._ "How long have you known?" "About a month." "And I guess _Sarah_ knows _."_ there was bitterness in her voice. I was shocked. I've never heard her use that tone on someone's name before. _I curse your name, Sarah Lightning!_ I remembered what she had said to her the day she came here. Maybe Lexi had more hatred in her heart then she wished for us to believe. "I don't expect you to miss him. Not like I do and not after what he did." she continued. I couldn't respond, so I just prowled off, leaving her to her thoughts. **Chapter** **7: Memory Hurts Sarah's P.O.V** Sarah Lightning stepped out of the titanium ship wary of any sound or flash of movement. The sky was dark and dotted with stars. The Korzoin Nebula glistened up ahead. "Korzoin" means "Flame" in Betian. Sure enough it was a group of swaths and shapes of gold, red, and orange in various shades. When it had first been created the natives had thought the sky was on fire. "I was afraid you wouldn't show up." the accented voice spoke to her. She heard someone approach. She didn't look at who it was. She knew. "What do you want, Sparrow?" Sarah didn't bother hiding the cold tones from her voice. After all that had happened, he deserved it. "I want the same thing you want. For my love to be safe and with me." he responded. The elusive ex-terrorist had a tendency to be intimidating even when he didn't want to be. _And he_ _wonders why._ Sheth _o_ ught. "Whatever you're trying to do with me, I'll do it, I'll even help you find your (#&!*%) but you leave Rocket Raccoon, out of _this. You got_ it? That means you even touch him and I will do to you what you did to him and then I will _kill yo_ u." Their was such fury and hatred in her eyes it almost seemed to make Sparrow...sad? Or was that shame? Sarah would never know but the truth was that he couldn't help remembering the times they spent together and how she used to look at him with such affection. The expression disappeared pretty soon. "Well, look who's grown a soft spot for the punk you tried to kill." Sparrow's next taunting words were so awful, foul and filthy that they cannot be said again nor written down. Sarah punched him in the face as hard as she could. He laughed and spat out blood. "I do like your fire. I'll admit you've improved." She swore at him, again with no effect but it felt good all the same. "Why should I leave off Raccoon for you?" Sparrow's the only one in the universe who calls Rocket by his last name. If anyone else did, well let's just say they have a death wish. "Because, I know where Lexi is." Sarah explained smoothly. Sparrow's odd eyes (one steely gray and one deep blue) flashed. His gaze and his movements promised violence. "Where?" "I'm not gonna give it up that easily. You hav _e to_ give me your word that you won't harm P13." "You have my word." "She's on the ship." "What?" his voice was deadly calm. "She's one of them." Sarah repeated as she walked away. "What-i-how is that-why-why would she-grrr...(!?%  &)!" he called her a rather rude name and Sarah just smiled to herself. **Rocket'** **s P.O.V** I had shared a bed with Sarah for almost a week now and it seemed almost right. But of course there was that huge element of wrong. The good thing is, lately my night terrors haven't occurred as often as they used to. It's not that I couldn't deal with them but they happened and nothing was stopping them. One night, I woke up at midnight, Sarah wasn't there. I heard voices and decided to investigate I almost took a weapon but thought better of it. "We don't want him to turn into a problem." Quill's voice stated. "He won't be. You didn't have to threaten him like that the other day." that was Gamora. "I didn't have any other options really." Quill defended. "You wouldn't understand the position I'm in here." "And he does tend to slow us considerably on the missions." Drax put in. "Are you saying he's a liability?" Gamora inquired. "We can't deny the fact that he can be." Quill responded. "Rocket does what he can. And he has worked hard enough to prove himself." I couldn't believe it. All this time they had been talking about me. It hurt more than I expected it would. Then the last voice I expected to hear spoke up. "I am Groot." That's _not true!_ He hadsaid: "He doesn't pay attention during planning and he can be very mean sometimes even to me." "I have no idea what he just said." Quill stated. "He does translate what Groot says." said Gamora. Was she on my side in this argument? "We don't know he does. We just have to take his word for it." Quill seemed to be the most opposed to me. That much was clear. Personally, I didn't blame him. "After all this time you should be trusting him by now." "Gamora, after all this time he still argues with _everything_ no matter who says it." "Well he's not leavingis he?You can't possibly be considering that." DJ spoke for the first time. "I don't know, DJ, I don't know. One thing for sure is he is our friend and I'd hate to betray him. Or hurt him in any way." I couldn't take anymore. I walked in the room pretending I hadn't heard a word. "Hey guys." I said trying not to sound dull or wounded. Because I was. I didn't want them to know that I had overheard their stupid conversation. I felt a twinge of satisfaction seeing that they all looked really uncomfortable and awkward. "Rocket." muttered Quill. Gamora punched Quill in the ribs just hard enough for him to feel it. They didn't think I noticed. Or heard it when she whispered, "Idiot!" DJ andLexi looked apologetic and I suspected that they knew that I knew. They always could tell when something was wrong. Even though Lexi hadn't been in the discussion. Well she might have. Something told me I hadn't heard the whole thing. _Do I_ _really slow them down on missions? I thoug_ ht of how short my legs were comparatively and realized it was probably true. Another memory came to me at this. _"You have got to be kidding me." I had been staring at a flight of stairs, trying to figure out how I was to get up there. "How is it going down there?" Quill jeered from the top. "Peter we really don't have time for this." Gamora had said. "NOTHING SHOULD BE THIS DIFFICULT!" I had yelled up, struggling over the steep steps. "I could just pick you up you know." reminded Gamora. "And lose what little dignity I have in this situation? NOT A CHANCE!" the retort hadn't been smart as I wasn't even half-way there. "I am Groot." my friend had felt bad for me but I hadn't liked that either. "NO, I don't want your help! I'll be fine! I wanna make it up myself!" "Well good luck with that. We're leaving." Quill informed. "Come on, guys! You wouldn't understand!" I felt like I would have made more progress if I had tried clawing up the railing. "I am Groot!" Groot had pulled me up anyway despite my protests._ A thought struck me. I really can't climb up a frickin' flight of stairs without difficulty? It didn't sit well with me. I didn't particularly like the idea. _We don't want him to turn into a problem._ By farthat had been the worst statement that had been said. Argumentative. _Liability. Problem. Animal. Weak. Rodent._ My least favorite words when associated with me. I hated that it hurt. Tried to tell myself that my teammates' debate didn't mean anything. But it did. It shocked and injured me that Groot had spoke up against me. Especially when I would never do that to him. Even though I hadn't liked hearing them from my oldest friend, Groot's words were correct. I did tend to be unkind sometimes. And I _didn't_ payattention when Quill was explaining his plans. Why did Groot care then? Because Groot cares about everyone. That's what separates us. If anything was going to break our bond it was that separation. Probably the most glaring question and I cursed myself for wondering it because I felt like it was an immature inquiry: What else does the team think of me? *~* Sarah hadn't been there during that that argument last night. I didn't think of where she was. She told me she had just gone outside. I saw no reason to disbelieve this explanation. By then I should have known. Sick of worrying about it I took it upon myself to actually see what I could find out about this Glythinus Virus. I'm not one to worry and I'm not one to do nothing about something if I think I can do something about it. To be honest, looking it up was a horror show. I'd never seen cuts like that, and I've endured if not seen every kind of injury known to life itself. Or so I thought. I needed to talk to that Zelenesian. The hardest part would be convincing Quill to let me. "Quill." I called to him. "What?" "I think we should go to Zelenesia." "Okay, why?" "I think we should ask them about that virus." "We just got clear of Delta 70! There's no way we're going back there especially with that stunt you pulled." "Look at this if you don't believe me." I reported showing him what I had found. "It's still a bad idea. No. It's just not gonna happen." personally I think part of the reason he was so against it was because it was my idea, but that was probably because I was still thinking about that night. "And tomorrow you will pretend it was your idea and then it won't be so bad." I pointed out. His expression was begrudging to say the least, but resigned. "You can try but if you get killed don't blame me." I don't know why I was doing this. Usually I was completely opposed to risking my life for the universe but, this team had taught me a few things. I couldn't help recalling a certain moment from what must have been our first mission. "What's _the universe ever done for you why would you wanna save it?!" I hadn't quite been the same then. "Because I'm one of the idiots who lives in it!"_ I smil _e_ d a little at the memory of the people we once were and the people we are now. "So, Zelenesia?" I asked figuring it was nothing short of a miracle that Quill actually agreed but maybe he had been just as worried about it as me, but he was different. In his mind his team would always come first. Maybe because he had no one else to care about. Except maybe Al but he didn't offer much company. "You're going _back_?!"Gamora demanded. "Why would you do that?! What if a Beta ship shows up?!" the thought _had_ occurred to me. "Yeah, Boss are you an idiot?" DJ piped up. "No, but I guess Rocket is because it's his idea." Peter retorted and I glared. "Gosh, don't get so mad about everything. We're all on your side here." said DJ. _Sure about that?_ I didn't want to think let alone speak that sentence. Didn't want to doubt our bond or alliance but I did hear them say those words and I don't think I'll ever be able to unhear them. I contemplated whether or not I should alert my team to the fact that I knew what they had said but thought against it. No good would come of it. Just a lot of awkward apologies and/or more likely a heated argument. *~* We were on the surface of Zelenesia which was, yes a beautiful world with an emerald sky with swaths of azure and not a single sun but the planet actually makes it's own light with help from the stars one of which is a giant sapphire also known as a "blue beauty" made of the hottest kind of fire. The Zelenesians believed this was one of there gods Glinnyar therefore they named the star, Glin. Me? I think it's a bunch of crap and that blue sparkle up there is just that. I've seen it far away and way, _way_ tooclose. (Long story. My fault.) "So, where are we gonna find this warrior?" DJ questioned. "Guys we're being tailed." Quill muttered. "Say what?" I looked up at him. "Sorry, Rocket. I mean someone is following us." he was right. Sure enough there was a woman lurking in the alleyways. "Should we try to lose her?" asked Gamora. "No. I've got a better idea." I answered and I heard Quill mutter to Gamora, "Here he goes again." I didn't bother replying to this, since they knew that I thought the same thing about their ideas as they did mine. "HEY! WHAT DO YOU WANT?! IF IT'S A FIGHT THEN WE'LL BE HAPPY TO OBLIGE!" I shouted as loud as possible. "Rocket, shut up!" Quill commanded. "We don't want any trouble." I disagreed. "Speak for yourself." She motioned quickly, her blue eyes wild. As if she was being chased. "I know who you are and what you seek." said the woman. She had a weathered, tan face and hair that was sort of a mousy brown streaked with gray. "I can tell you about Glythinus for I assure you no one else will." She was obviously insane but I guess it would be worth trying. Or Quill did. "What's your name?" he asked cautiously. "Shei Sung." she replied. I didn't know whether she was talking to herself or to us, therefore we weren't sure we were even going to get a straight answer from this nut job. Sung lived in a shack that looked as if she had to rebuild it every time a gust of wind blew through. "Come, come." she still had that wild half-panicked look about her. "What? Go in there?"I questioned. There were a few things it could be: A trap. What would turn into a bloody mess. Exactly what it appeared to be; a flimsy old shack where this gypsy lives. (At least she _seemed_ likeagypsy.) That's just to name a few. "I understand your doubt. But if you do indeed seek answers this is where you must go. After all, this was your idea was it not?" Shock instilled in me. How long had she been following us. "How do you know that?" I bared my sharp teeth. "I saw it in your mind." she replied casually, waving a brown hand as if the question was so pointless she would be able to just brush them away like a fly. "What do _you mean you saw it in my mind?!" I wasn'_ t even sure why that worried me so much but it did. "Rocket," Quill warned. "Behave." a growl rose in my throat and I didn't bother surpressing it. "If you do not wish for people to look inside it then maybe you should not make it so easy for someone like me to do so." Sung rasped. There was too much in my mind for anyone to see. Too much I didn't want seen. Now this crazy person knew everything I've done that I'm not proud of. Every lie I've told, every pain I've endured every secret that I've kept. "Your an ironteeth aren't you?" Quill inquired perceptively. "You have encountered my kind before." not a question because I suppose that her kin _d wouldn'_ t have to ask anything. I felt something pull at my head and I saw this woman had a creature as a pet or something. It had large pointy ears and a long slender tail, it's eyes were big and green with almost reptilian pupils. It's gray striped with black fur was shorter than mine and it walked on all four of it's round paws which were tipped with sharp claws that were smaller than mine. It was using these claws to tug at me. I don't know what was in this flea-pelt's head but it was asking for it I can tell you that much. "Hey! Stop it! What is wrong with you?!" I hissed. "I apologize for Spider. I normally let him eat creatures like you." Sung told us. Not. A. Comforting. Thought. "'Spider'?" I repeated. I had never seen anything that looked less like an arachnid. "It's called a cat." Quill informed unnecessarily. "I don't care what the little demon's called I'm about to break it's neck." I retorted. When Sung whirled around at this she as hissing and her teeth were actually sharp and made of iron. They looked like they could crush bone. "You will not touch him, Vermin of the Half-world!" unstoppable white-hot rage seared my insides. I raised my gun to her. "Don't ever sp _eak t_ he title of that infernal world again. No one has said that to me in twenty-four years and it's gonna stay that way. I don't care who you are or what you can do. I will tear you to pieces if that name is spoken." my voice was a lethal calm. I lowered the firearm rather reluctantly and put it away, the traces of shock and fury still lingering. The team seemed sorta shocked. I wouldn't blame them if they were. They had never seen me get like that. I tried to keep a tight leash on that part of me. "Well, you are a _gloriously_ brutal creature after all." the ironteeth's remark was awful in every way possible. "What I wouldn't give to have you on my side." I hated her the more she talked. She had used the name of my home planet. The name of the people who turned me into this. Who ensured I would have a nightmare every night. Who turned me into this. That was a horrible crime in my mind. No one says that name and the only reason she knew was because this witch w _as som_ ething more than human. "And, it seems they did quite a number on you." she continued. "Hey, just leave him alone okay? What do you want from us?" Quill was _defending_ me?I wasn't sure what to think of that. "This virus. You think you can stop it." Shei Sung replied. "Yeah, why?" "It is the only thing that can destroy a witch within a month of becoming infected. It takes longer with other species." "And you want us to stop it for you and that's why you agreed to help us. Oh you are evil." "I take no shame in that." "Proving my point. Why are you so interested in Rocket anyway?" I noticed Gamora had taken a step toward me. It infuriated me that my team was trying to protect me. I can protect myself. Even after all this time they still didn't believe I could hold my own against opponents several times my size but then again she was a witch of a legion. There were thirteen witch legions on various planets. The most powerful being the Ironteeth. Then there was the Fireclaws, who could inflict the most horrible burns on there enemies, the Bluebloods, who could not only breathe under water but were also completely resistant to any kind of cold while freezing their opponents to death, the Shadowpelts who could blend into the smallest sliver of darkness rendering them invisible, and that is just a few of them. They are feared by pretty much everybody. And they know it. "I am interested because he has a deadly fury which my legion would like to use to our advantage." she answered. "I don't kill for anyone." I was starting to wonder if Sung had a different reason for wanting us here. I suddenly became quite aware of my surroundings. "It starts with paralysis. That is brief. A victim believes it is just a freak accident. Then the seizures. Long agonizing spasms in which one cannot breathe as if they are drowning. These incidents cannot be foretold. They happen at random. The skin actually tears itself leaving deep gouges and a residue the color of a leaf in springtime. The victim loses it's color and it's skin becomes like ice. Then after a couple months they either recover or they die. Two out of twelve victims survive. Usually. Unless it is a witch. They almost always die. One out of twenty legioners are killed by this virus. Fortunately for our species, it is rare." Sung barely got the last word out before her eyes bulged even more than usual. She gasped and choked her clawed hands clutching at her throat. Blood ran out of her mouth and her eyes. The legioner let out an earsplitting screech at the sky which certainly wasn't human. Then finally the gasps quieted, the grip on her neck loosened and she collapsed to the wooden floor. Shei Sung Ironteeth was dead. Chapter **8: Sparrow returns- Along with his Karma.** "Okay, what just happened?" DJ said as if any of us knew. Sung's body lay limp on the floor of her shack in front of us, a growing puddle of blue blood pooling around it. "We have to get out of here. Her entire Legion is gonna find out she's dead and we're gonna get blamed and I don't know about you but I would rather not face thirty savage legioners." stated Quill and he was right. Of course even if she hadn't died if they showed up they would probably kill us anyway. "I've just about had it with those beasts for now anyway. And this place." Gamora spoke up. "The bad thing is she went before we could ask her about the cure." I chipped in. "Maybe even she didn't know. I think we're gonna need to make a trip to Veikorr to fix this one." Quill said. I knew eventually the Ironteeth Legion was going to come after us blaming us for the death of their sister. I'd rather not be there when that happens. Especially with the way that crone had been looking at me. Like she was just waiting to force me into a cage and make me do her heartless bidding. "We should get back to the..." Quill trailed off as he saw what was happening to the body. It wasn't even disintegrating but rather rapidly melting into a pool of thick, dark blue sludge. "Ohh-kay then. Let's go before something even more bizarre happens." I had to agree with Gamora as we made our way out of that creepy shack as fast as possible. "So now we're in danger of Betians _and_ Ironte _e_ th?" I bristled a little at Quill's statement. "Hey at least this one wasn't my fault." I defended myself. "Aren't you coming?" Quill said from the doorway of the Milano. _"Yeah,_ I'll be right there. I wanna check something out." I responded. He shrugged and headed inside. Then something blinded me in a world of black. Someone was covering my mouth and dragging me somewhere. I struggled but it was pretty futile. _Oh my gosh someone's trying to kidnap me!_ My back was pushed against a wall and the blindfold was torn off. "Who are you and what's your problem with me _?!"_ Iwas in an alleyway riddled with graffiti figuring it must be someone looking for revenge on me or something. Well I was right about that. Nothing could have prepared me for who I saw there. " _Sparrow?!"_ there my presumed-dead rival stood (fortunately with no blowtorch) the scar on his face looked even more violent than I remembered. "Hello, Raccoon." I hate it when he calls me that. "What do you want?" even though I sort of could figure that out on my own. "First of all, I want this." he then slugged me in the face. Hard. "Is that all you got?" I spat out blood on the asphalt. Sparrow kicked my stomach. I'll admit I felt that one. Felt the next one too. And the next one. *~* Sparrow had been beating on me for half an hour not that I couldn't see why. "I've had it with you, you Tramp!" he said, punching me again."So you dragged me out here just to beat me up?" I panted. "Yeah pretty much." I couldn't help making a very unfavorable exclamation. "Sparrow, stop!" a voice screamed. He turned and there Lexi stood crying, maybe just at the sight of her love again. Sparrow held a paw on my chest clearly saying Don't m _ove but I w_ asn't going anywhere. "Lexi." he breathed. The two lovers hadn't seen each other in I don't know how long so maybe this was understandable. I saw the way they looked at one another and saw the love that Sarah and I could have shared. Sparrow grabbed Lexi and held her close. "This is my fault. Everything that's happened. I'm sorry." I was just thinking if one of my teammates showed up I thought of how strange this would look. I was standing with my back against the wall, bleeding, and Lexi was kissing someone they hadn't even seen. "Is it true? That you've joined the guardians?" he asked her. "It's not official." I felt forgotten but at this point that was a good thing, considering the situation. The two of them stood together loving each other so fiercely that it must hurt. Staring as if they were trying to make up for all the time they didn't get to look at one another. "You need to come back with me, Sparrow." Lexi told him which I personally that was a really bad idea but that's because I was Sparrow's most hated person and Lexi was his least hated. "They wouldn't accept me." "I can convince them not to kill you." "Kill me? You still underestimate me after all these years." "No, Sparrow you can't hurt them." "If they threatened you in any way-" "No, no I'm fine. I you have to become one of them." "Is it the only way we can be together?" "I don't know." "Then I'll do it." I still didn't dare move for fear of being slammed again. He may be a star-struck lover right now but Sparrow Night was still one of the few people I was scared of. Even though I would never admit I was scared of him to anyone. "Chances are they'll probably tie you up first and interrogate you. It might be in your best interests to not fight them when they do this because they are str _onge_ r than you." Lexi was right. My team could crush him if they wanted to. However they could also do this to me. I sometimes can't help being a _little_ intimidated by them. "What happened to you?!" exclaimed Gamora when we got back. Sparrow was waiting outside. "Yeah you're a wreck." Quill commented. "There is someone outside Lexi wants you to meet." I answered dully not really wanting to reply to their questions. "Rocket, tell me who did this to you and why." Gamora said and I didn't bother resisting. "Ran into Sparrow Night and it turns out he still had a little bit of payback to give me." I told her. Quill went outside indefinitely to question Sparrow. "You should have stayed with us then you wouldn't end up such a mess." Gamora's tone was scolding. "I know you hate being told this but most species are harder to kill than you. What if there had been a legioner? When we're on planets where there are dangerous species with a good reason to hate you, you stay. _With. The team!_ You understand?" I know she means well but I couldn't help feeling like it was a compromise to my pride. "Don't talk to me like that. I can take care of myself." I glowered. "Rocket, are you gonna give me your word that you'll do that or do you want this to turn into a problem like a certain Beta mission?" I rolled my eyes. Realizing she wasn't going to relent until I agreed. "Fine." "Good. I just don't want you to get hurt." "Then we have the same idea because I don't wanna get hurt either." I still hate it when she reprimands me like that. Lexi was right about Quill's reaction to Sparrow. He was dragged into the ship and clearly Sparrow didn't listen to Lexi about not fighting it. "I wanna know who you are, what your after and most of all I wanna know why you harmed my friend." Sparrow was glaring at him as if he stood a chance as he replied, "And if I don't tell you?" even though he probably knew the answer. "Look, Sparrow, I've heard about you and I don't wanna _make_ you tellme, but I can." "I specialize in torture. If you think I can be broken by some ravagerthen you're pretty wrong." Quill gave him a flat look as if saying: _You really want to do this?_ Sparrow sighed and gave in. "I'm Sparrow Night former leader of Klash I am here for my girlfriend and as for why I hurt your friend, let's just say we have a brutal history and we didn't break it off under good terms." "Your girlfriend?" "You know her as Lexi Blaze." "Lexi? Is that right?" Quill turned to her. "Yes." she replied quietly. "Hey, Sarah." Sparrow said to her. "Don't even talk to her." I growled. "Well I already have even when she wasn't under your 'protection.'" anger surged through me. "What's he talking about?" I demanded of Sarah. "Now's not the time to get into it." "Yes. I think it is." "No, Sarah's right." Quill stated stopping the argument before it escalated earning a dagger look from me, which he ignored. "And I'll have you know Gamora said Rocket looked like he took quite a beating from you." Quill's attention was back on my rival. "Good. He was supposed to." I scowled but decided not to get involved. "Why did you tie me up? The way I see it you're either paranoid or I instill some kind of fear inside you." Sparrow was trying to get into their heads. Mess with them a little bit. Clearly hoping to exploit something. "I know your reputation." "Quill, this isn't getting us anywhere. I don't know what your trying to get out of him." I had to speak up. My patience wouldn't allow me to take much more of this. "So what do you suggest we do with him?" It was Lexi's controlled voice that spoke. "He could be part of you. Of us." every head in the room turned to her. "Are you insane?! He would sooner gouge out our eyes then look at us something tells me you know that." Personally I believed the way Quill said it was a little harsh to be said to Lexi but I kept that thought to myself. He was onto her though. He must have known that she was trying to keep him here because they were in love. It was stupid to envy Lexi and Sparrow's closeness, but I couldn't help feeling like that was what I could have had with Sarah and what I knew she gave up. _Don't_ y _ou know it could have been better for us?_ I thought looking at her. I had kissed her and was currently sleeping with her but that didn't mean I had fallen in love with her again. Maybe I never would. I wondered if Sparrow was still jealous even the smallest bit. When I had been younger and when we had been warring with one another I had relished her love because I knew that I had her and Sparrow didn't. This awoke different thoughts now then it had then. Now that I'd grown up a little bit. "Okay. We'll keep you just to see what you can do okay? A trial period so to speak." Quill decided. "And just to let you know I'm only doing this for Lexi." Lexi's ears pricked and she appeared apologetic. I figured he was gonna stick with us for a while all the same. As soon as Quill walked out Sarah was on Sparrow in a flash. She had her forearm braced on his neck and her eyes were amethyst orbs of fury. "What was that?! You promised me you wouldn't touch 89! Now I could just kill you right here but as hard as it is for me to believe you actually mean something to someone! YOU SICK KILLER!" I tried to ignore how much of a turn-on it was to see Sarah like this and most of those thoughts were drowned out as soon as she said that Sparrow had promised her that he wouldn't hurt me. It made me mad that she was trying to protect me again. "GET OFF HIM!" Lexi screeched pulling at Sarah. "Lexi, stay out of this." Sparrow told her, wrenching Sarah free and kicking her off. "HEY! You don't do that to her!" I considered punching him for that, then came upon the realization that I was in no shape to have another fight. Maybe I would make an exception. "At this point I out-skill, out-strength, and outweigh you by quite a lot. So I am in a position where I can do pretty much anything I want to your girlfriend!" he retorted. Sara's plasma whip lit up at these words and fortunately we had been making a lot of noise I guess. "Okay, break it up, break it up we don't want anyone hurt." Quill was holding Sarah and I back and DJ was doing the same for Sparrow and Lexi. "Again." Quill added remembering the alleyway incident. Gamora was there too with an expression of pure exasperation. "Rocket, you tried to fight again?! _" I shrug_ ged. "Do you remember what we talked about?" "You told me to stay with the team you didn't say anything about fighting." "After the way you got beat up you should have known better." I really didn't care what she thought of it...even if it cost me. "What Gamora is saying is, just stop fighting allies." Quill put in. "Whatever." I mumbled. I was perfectly capable of protecting myself they underestimated me because of the species difference. Maybe I was too easy to capture but regardless of that I've gotten myself and this team out of a few messes. Being careful was pretty much the last thing I felt I needed to worry about. Al clicked his beak from where he perched in the corner. "What are you lookin _'_ at?" I asked. He let out a soft hoot. "That's what I thought." The bird's big, round yellow eyes (Which I thought were kinda creepy) were focused on me like searchlights. "Why does Quill like you?" he chirped as if he was proud of it. As if he actually knew what I was saying. "And why am I talking to a bird?" It was almost as if Al was sad to see me go when I left. Or maybe I'm just going crazy. *~* As it turned out, Sparrow was pretty useful. He knew how to handle a gun. (I was still better at it in my opinion.) "Here. Show me what you can do with this." I handed him a firearm. I was supposed to work with him. Doesn't mean it can't make me sick. I watched as he shot our butchered target. "Not bad." I admitted. Could another team actually do better than us? No, really. We're pretty much the best guys out there. "Your friends seem to like you, Raccoon." I couldn't help scoffing. "Wait until you see us get in a fight. They _hate_ me _." "_ Do you blame them for that?" as startling an inquiry it was I had to reply with the truth. "No." I was a jerk a lot of the time and most of the fights _were_ myfault. (A lot weren't but that's a different conversation for another time.) "I find it hard to believe that if they truly hated you, you would still be here." I didn't ask why Sparrow was so interested in my life. The way I saw it he was either

trying to infiltrate, he was trying to learn more about us, or (The most unlikely of them all) he was trying to reconcile with me. "You don't know them like I do." it was all I could think of to say. "I know Lexi, I know Sarah and I know you. Once more I've met their types. I know these things." he reassured. "You don't know me." that might have been denial but it was more of I _hoped_ he didn't know me. "Look, I'm trying my best not to punch you. Was it wrong of me to think we didn't have to be mortal enemies, that we didn't have to kill one another?" Sparrow's hybrid eyes were like fire. The kind of fire I usually stayed away from.

I was so startled I didn't even retort. Just kinda gaped at him. "You thought that we could be..." I struggled to find a way to end this sentence. I didn't dare say friends. That didn't seem accurate. "Allies." Yes, allies would work. No other word would. I had a fatal flaw. One I just demonstrated and one that could very well end in my downfall if I don't get a handle on it. The flaw of making enemies out of people who should have been allies. Who should have been my friends. I alienated people by being snappy and mean. Shame flooded into me and I couldn't help feeling guilty. I wasn't saying sorry. No, not to this guy. I would eventually. When I succeeded in eliminating that flaw. "I got some, uh, 'marksing' to do so you can practice for a while by yourself if you want." I informed him awkwardly preparing to leave. "Wait." Sparrow stopped me. I didn't turn around until I actually heard what he wanted to say. "I never said thank you." "For what?" I couldn't imagine me doing anything for him. "For getting Lexi out of there." I contemplated this. The memory flashing. He meant the burning building. The point were Sparrow "died". "I wasn't saving her. I was saving myself. Don't thank me for leaving you to die." _YOU'RE A COWARD!_ Those screamed words, that desperate cry had more of an effect on me now than they did when they were uttered. The room was in total silence when I left. He wanted to reconcile, then so be it but I don't think anyone would even _want_ me as an ally, flaws aside. And I really couldn't forget or forgive the things that he had done. The things that _I_ had done. Somehow being killed by a legioner, or even this stupid virus seemed appealing right then. **Chapter 9: STONE** Mission Record #474

Planet: Craw Quadrant: Drenkorin Delta: 68 Class: H Status: Forest Opponents: Crawlydds, invaders. Number: Approx. six Commander: Peter Quill Fighters: Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Lexi Blaze, DJ Belladonna, Sarah Lightning, Sparrow Night.

Approximate Chances: Lookin' pretty good ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ A forest. That was where we were that day. The day of Sparrow's first mission. What I also didn't know was this was the day where I would almost die. We hadn't even got out of the Crawan gravitonic field when we spotted a reason to go back. No one had liked the idea and I was particularly opposed to it. I hadn't even known why we left for Craw anyway. It was an unimpressive planet and it's forests were known for containing vicious and dangerous creatures. Then again, I am a vicious and dangerous creature. However I wouldn't particularly like to run into a craliaphan anytime soon. Animals with huge tusks and a distinctly feline shape and claws mine didn't stand a chance against. They usually fought in packs and didn't normally bother outsiders but...well you never know. "Crawlydds? Really could've ignored this one, Quill." I drawled. "What? It'll be exciting." "You know what it also is?" " _What?!"_ "A suicide mission!" He rolled his eyes clearly not caring even if it would end in our inevitable death. "Boys, boys. Please save the fighting for when this thing actually shows up." Gamora told us despite the glare I gave her. By now I should learn that my dagger looks aren't having any effect. "Have any of you idiots actually _faced_ a crawlydd before?" said Sarah. Sometimes it's like there's two Sarahs in my life. The part of her that loves me and the part that's a cold heart-breaker. "No." Quill replied hesitantly but unfazed by the insult. "Then P13's probably right." she said it in such a matter-of-fact way it was a very near sick comment. As she walked forward Quill shrugged and gave a look that said, _What's her problem?_ I returned the look in another one of our silent conversations. _I don't know._ He silently replied, _how did you fall for her again?_ This one I didn't appreciate so I just scowled wordlessly retorting: _Don't. That's an argument I am sure we've had before._ And we had. Last night. I didn't feel the need to tell the story. I'm pretty confident that Quill understands what I'm saying in those wordless chats, because I can translate his fine. Those conversations were my only reassurance that these people were still my allies and there was no hard feelings there. After all, if you can understand what someone is saying before they even say it, you must know them well. Either that or Terrans are even more predictable than I thought they were. A low, threatening growl erupted from somewhere. Something I had never heard from anywhere else. Something that could only come from..."I believe you just found your crawlydd." Sparrow spoke up in a voice too cheerful for the situation. The next four words that came out of my mouth were so uncivilized and foul that Lexi flinched. The creature's back was covered in dark purple plates of armor that were most certainly bulletproof and something told me they were everything-proof too. It had eight legs that looked equine until they got to the end of them where hooves would have been and their were reptilian paws with enormous claws on the end and covered in thick dark gray fur mottled with purple and black. It's tail was like a scorpion with a stinger bigger than any weapon I've ever seen. It's head was similar to a badger's except for the ears which were nothing more than holes in the sides of it's head and the rack of horns it bore. It's gargantuan, sharp teeth curved inward and some of them protruded out of it's mouth. It's eyes were terrifying red pits. "Like I said, SUICIDE MISSION!" I screeched cursing myself for screeching but you would if you were in this situation. This wasn't nearly as horrifying as when the animal (Which was the four or five stories high if I forgot to mention) spoke. "I HAVE HEARD OF YOU GUARDIANS. YOU ARE DEFIANT AND THINK YOU CAN PROTECT THIS WORLD AND YOURSELVES FROM AN INEVADABLE FATE." It's voice was like every natural disaster and wonder that ever occurred. It was an earthquake and an avalanche. A hurricane and a volcano. I will hear that voice in my dreams as long as I live. That voice of devastation and chaos. Of fire and ice. "I AM MORE THAN A CREATURE OF A FALLEN WORLD. I AM STONE THE OBLITERATOR AND I WILL BE THE DOWNFALL OF YOU IGNORANT LIFE-FORMS." "This one's on me." Quill had a kind of fear of never seen in his eyes. Just seeing him like that made me just as terrified. "Already blamed you." I barely got the words out. I couldn't move. I've never seen anything like Stone. Once more I knew that me and my guns wouldn't stand a chance. This may very well be the end of me. I gazed at Sarah and we both had the same look in our eyes. _I love you._ I would never know why I didn't say those words out loud. Maybe because I was scared. And I always would be. Gamora looked like she was going to be sick, but her eyes looked different. Like she recognized this... _thing._ This was no ordinary crawldd. Crawlydds were supposed to have six insect legs and only about the size of a horse. Picture the biggest tree you've ever seen. I can guarantee Stone was bigger. He towered over Groot even. "We can't fight this." I choked. We would have to retreat. "It can probably outrun us if we retreat." Gamora explained. "You got a better idea, because if so, now would be the time." I glared. All we could do was run and hope nothing else showed up. So we ran. I couldn't help realizing that we had never retreated in our life. Not once. And here we were now. Again with that stupid pride. What scared me the most was the fact that Lexi, Sparrow, Sarah and I had legs that were a whole lot shorter than the rest of them. Sparrow seemed to keep fear inside. I envied him for that. Then again I suppose that someone who was an expert on inflicting fear, wouldn't feel fear the same way as us. The trees were a blur and I avoided logs and hanging branches as best I could. There was something within these forests. Something besides even Stone. A chilling voice with not the same effect as Stone's had echoed among the leaves. " _Stone, you dare interfere in this?! You are trespassing on my territory. These invaders should be mine to destroy!"_ It had a hissing, vicious voice with a high-pitch. However the ones of it's kind ran like a pack of wolves but stayed within the trees rendering them nothing but a tall, slender black shape. All I heard was a screech and a thud and I knew that whatever creature had that hissing voice had just been killed by Stone. " _I do not know who you are, only that you do not belong here. Therefore you will be eliminated. I, unlike my dead superior do not care if we or Stone kill you. Only that your evisceration comes to be."_ this voice was like many voices speaking at once, but was morphed by something. I know I could never describe it completely or exactly. All I knew was I wanted to get as far away from Stone and whatever these black shapes were as possible. Then one of these "shadow people" as I would soon get into the habit of calling them, turned it's head through the trees. I had to stop. Paralyzed. It's head was black and it's face was a dark gray. It had no eyes. It was blind. It's mouth was gray with a long pointed tongue that was blue and many rows of razor-sharp black fish-like teeth. " _ROCKET!_ Are you insane?! Don't stop!" shouted Quill. It reached out a hand, if you could call it that. It had long, thin fingers and a gangly, black arm. I could see most of it's bones even beneath it's clammy skin. I wanted to move. _Had_ to move. I didn't because, I realized with a flash of panic, I _couldn't._ This monster had paralyzed me in one spot or something. It reached for me and there was still that fuzzy wall preventing me from panicking. Blocking my thoughts. My better judgment. Quill going back was probably the only thing that stopped me from being killed right there. He grabbed me and the wall was broken down. I was clear-headed again and spewing the worst possible curses at myself, at Stone and at the shadow people. Stone the Obliterator, can fly. He had huge bat-like wings with a spike on the end of each one, which I hadn't noticed before. He let out a roar that shook the very planet. Just as the ship came into view, he slashed. I screamed in pain. I struggled to stay on my feet but soon fell to the ground gradually becoming weaker and weaker. Of all the people on this team it got _me._ And from such a high distance. It doesn't make any sense given my size. I watched my own scarlet blood pour onto the ground. There was something else too. Something that wouldn't have been caused by two scratches on the chest, no matter how deep. My vision was so blurry I could only make out shapes. It was muffling my senses. Blood filled my throat and my lungs. Choking me. Killing me. Someone screamed my name but I barely heard it. I was inwardly panicking but this thing was draining my energy. I gagged and vomited on the ground. The ship was twenty feet away, but it seemed longer. Especially since I now tried and failed to stand up again. Poison. Stone's claws had been laced with poison. A quite effective one I'm guessing. I heard my own heartbeat racing, then slowing. And slowing. The last thing I saw was a shadow creature standing over me before the world went black. *~* I woke up in the Sleeping Quarters of the ship. The way I felt was so awful that waking up after getting hammered didn't even compare. "What happened?" I managed to ask Quill. "You were dead. We fought off the Shadow People but Stone is still out there." he replied, then he hit me on the side of my head. "Do you have any idea how scared I was?!" I hadn't thought of that. Even though when you're dying of poison on Craw you don't really think about much of anything. "Ow! Sorry. I couldn't really do anything to prevent it though." the strong reaction surprised me. Maybe the team didn't hate me as much as I thought they did. "I felt sure that Gamora was gonna fall apart. In fact all of us were really worried." I tried to sit up, then instantly regretted it. "Do you know what kind of poison that was?" "Do you?" "No." "And before you ask, Sarah's fine." I let out a breath of relief for that and was ashamed that Sarah hadn't been the first thing I thought about. "Tell me we're away from that planet." I choked. "Yeah and we're not going back there until...let's say never." So we were back in space. Everyone was still alive and things were back to normal. Well, what was now normal for us. "P13!" I knew who that was before she even made it through the door. "P13, I thought you were going to die!" Sarah's amethyst eyes were genuinely concerned as she kissed me. I wanted to protest because Quill was still there, but didn't. I have a weird thing about Sarah kissing me when we weren't alone. "Okay, I will leave you to it." Quill left the room by some miracle even though I knew he would be scolding me on "being careful" later on. "You know I'm not gonna go down that easy." I told her stroking her delicate head. She smiled and once again I knew why I had loved this girl- and probably still did. "I worry about you sometimes. Jason does too." she said quietly. "How do you know Quill?" I had to ask. I couldn't understand why she called him that or why I had never heard that they knew each other. "I met him because we were both after the same thing. It was a retrieval mission. He helped me escape when his crew held me captive." Sarah explained. It was similar to how Quill had met _me._ In a way. Except in that one he had been on a retrieval mission for an object and I had been trying to retrieve _him._ I had to wonder what our lives would be like, where I would be if we had just went on living our lives. If we had never banded together and never went on that retrieval mission. I would still be a bounty hunter who was living for the sake of living. "So, what are we going to do about Stone?" I asked. "Ask your leader." I noticed she didn't say _"our leader"_ she had said _"Your"_ meaning she still did not consider herself one of us even though clearly that was going to happen if it hadn't already. "Hopefully he's constricted to Craw along with those slimy shadow things." I hoped that I sounded more optimistic than I felt. I hadn't liked the thought of what Stone could do with all his power, if he could kill me with one scratch. "You have every right to be scared." Sarah went on. "I'm not scared." I lied. The last thing I want is for people to know what I'm afraid of. Given I was scared of quite a few things but none as strong as the ones involving Sarah and her love. "I don't think he was trying to kill _you_ with that blow." she continued. "Felt like he knew what he was aiming for to me." I answered bitterly. My chest was on fire and the traces of the poison were still abandoned in my blood. "We're gonna get him for that." she informed comfortingly. I was touched by the team's reaction to my near-death experience, along with being startled by it. So I put up with Lexi's fussing and took Quill's lecture. (barely holding my tongue through that.) As it turns out Quill didn't really have a plan for how to bring Stone down. (what else is new?) "There's no reason for us to go rushing into battle over an oversized crawlydd with an inflated sense of self-worth. We don't know if he's a threat yet. Personally, Rocket I think this is just you wanting payback." he told us earning the scowl I gave him even though he was probably right. "Why are you guys so vengeful?" Quill questioned with a pointed look at Sparrow who pretended like he didn't know what he was referring to. In this crowd of people with a bad habit of seeking revenge, Lexi looked as innocent as a newborn kitten. _Angel in the Battle,_ I thought. Right now what with this virus and Beta and witch legions, I guess this is Quill being a good leader. He didn't want any unnecessary battles. At least that's what I hoped that's what this was about. I hoped it wasn't because I got hurt. What angered me the most was the team's hesitance to let me go on a mission. "So what if I got a little poisoned. I can do this guys!" I explained having to bully Quill into letting me do it. "Okay, fine, but I don't want anything unexpected to happen."he gave in. "I am Groot." "Nothing's gonna happen, Quill and Groot, Stone's not coming back." I listed off exasperated. I must have sounded more upset then I wanted because Gamora called me on being touchy. "You know none of us meant to offend. What's your problem anyway?" "I don't know. I don't need you to _worry_ about me." I told her. "We're going to be doing that for the rest of your life so get used to it, Roadkill." said Quill and I bristled at the name but didn't say anything. I was still getting ready when Gamora crouched down so we were (more or less) at eye level. She placed her hands on my small shoulders. "I thought we were going to lose you." as she said this her brown eyes had a look I've never seen before. I was so used to the cool, unemotional assassin she usually was. "You too? I thought at least _someone_ wouldn't underestimate me!" my surprise and anger was a joke even if it was based on how I really felt. "This is why we tell you to be careful." she continued and I did feel something. I loved this team. They were my family and probably always would be. I know my reaction if one of them almost died would probably match theirs. I would die for these people. And Groot had proved to me that he would die for this team and...for me. Even when I feel intimidated by them or angry at them. I felt...safe with them. Security was another one of those things I wasn't too familiar with and now I was and had been for a year. Somehow I knew beforehand that we would be victorious in that mission and that we would emerge unscathed for the most part. I was right. *~*

No poison, no claws, no crawlydds and no legioners. The enemies hadn't stood a chance. I said as much and the team couldn't disagree. It felt great to have a normal unthreatening mission after these past few days. And as much as I hated Sparrow, he was good to have on one's side. Not to mention we had become more or less allies seeing no other option. Sometimes however, he wouldn't understand the "team" part of being a teammate and I understood. It had taken me a long time to get used to working with a team and living in the same place as these guys and, something I still haven't quite succeeded in, learning to trust the other guardians. It would most likely take Sarah and Sparrow just as long if not longer. Lexi had fit right in, either because she was used to working with a large crew or because she was just friendly. Certainly wasn't traditional fighter material and she hadn't killed a single being but maybe that was a good thing. Compared to the rest of our body counts, called "death tolls" which meant how many lives one had taken. I don't keep count probably to escape shame. I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of. (and a lot I am proud of and shouldn't be.) All the same I felt the need to talk to my former-rival. "Sparrow, I know it's been hard adjusting to this place and these people and to me and we haven't exactly been friendly to one another." if this was the first stage in the "reconciliation" then I am probably failing. "Why do you say so?" he asked and it was a surprisingly challenging question. "I figured that you're obviously sticking around for a while and there's no point warring with you anymore." these were brave words considering Sparrow had a bad habit of spontaneously punching people particularly me. "I was waiting for you to come around." that wasn't the response I had expected. "uh...oohh-kay?" my answer was not an answer but it was the best I could do for that. "What does this mean anyway?" I had to ask. "It means I won't be hitting you anymore." "uh...thanks." "I'm sorry for all that's happened. I did start it." Sparrow's apology meant a lot to me. It was so surprising he even cared. "By the way...Sarah and I are...you know...together. And I just wanna know, are you like okay with that?" maybe I just asked this out of fear, maybe out of apology but I wanted, _needed_ to know. "Raccoon, I have finally moved on with Lexi, I am over her. So I guess what I'm saying is, she's all yours, Punk." it felt strange to look at him and not see an enemy, a rival, a nemesis, an opponent, an adversary whatever you want to call it. We would never be friends but we could be on the same side. For now. **Chapter 10: Moving on** **Sparrow's P.O.V.** Sparrow didn't know why he had been so dismissive of the hatred between him and Rocket Raccoon. He realized that he would most likely be staying here for a while and in order for that to happen Sparrow couldn't have an ongoing feud between him and a guardian. As for Sarah, he would always feel something for her but, the things Sparrow had said to Rocket were true. He was happy for Sarah, though no longer wanted or needed her with him. The rest of Rocket's team, well they were strange. However they shared a kind of togetherness, an unbreakable bond of sorts that Klash had never shared. That Sparrow had never experienced in a crew like this. He hated to admit it but he had actually learned something from his former adversary about weaponry. Rocket had a large armory and he knew what he was doing with all that battalion. Sparrow had thought that Lexi would have some sort of resentment towards him for disappearing and for his crimes. And yet she had forgiven him. For everything. She was too forgiving, too trusting and far, far too innocent for Sparrow to fail in protecting her. He didn't deserve her but now that Sparrow had pulled her in to his screwy life he couldn't go back. No matter how many times Sparrow heard from her that she didn't care about the crimes, or the record, or the ex-terrorist status, he couldn't be rid of the belief that part of her fears him. Like the rest of the universe. Like Rocket and probably like Sarah. If Sparrow went through with this "guardian of the galaxy" stuff and actually _became_ one of them then what would that mean for his life? It sounded good just because it would improve his criminal record which at this point was pretty bad. If Lexi had joined them Sparrow _had_ to follow suit if he wanted to be with her didn't he? yeah he would do it, if the guardians accepted him, and would they? It would mean leaving Sparrow's whole life behind. Abandoning his ship, _The Shrapnel Rapier,_ changing his relationship with Lexi, eliminating Sparrow's rivalry with Rocket and reinventing himself and training himself to not fall back into the habits of someone who was evil and twisted. What did he have to lose? **Rocket's P.O.V** I loved Sarah again. There wasn't a doubt in my mind of that. She had came back into my life three months ago and I loved her. They had been really long and harrowing three months though. What with Stone, and Sparrow and "witches", there wasn't much else to scare or surprise me with. I couldn't help wondering if she loved me back. I could tell she felt some bond there but I didn't know if she loved me in that way. The way I did. Then again if she didn't have intimate feelings she wouldn't be sleeping with me. Hopefully. I hadn't been myself since my past came rushing back. Since the possibility of me reliving that nightmare had entered my life. Now most of my focus was on things like deadly viruses threatening to wipe out the universe and giant creatures with poison claws who totally have it in for me.

It didn't leave much room for thoughts about Sparrow, Sarah or anyone else. Unfortunately that space was taken up by fear. The most primal emotion ever created. You can imagine how I feel it. Burning and it can take over if I let it intentionally, or accidentally. I feel the strongest, simplest emotions a lot more than the complex, more human ones, like excitement, shame, or sorrow. Anger and fear are dangerous and I feel them most of all. The team just calls me "prickly" but they haven't even seen the full extent of it. My difference from them was glaring and obvious. Anyone who's not physically blind can see it. See it but not understand it. Understanding it was impossible for anyone who wasn't... _this._ I knew I had to do something to keep my mind off everything. I decided it was finally time to talk about that backstabbing conversation the team had had earlier. Confronting Quill about may not have been a good idea but I couldn't go on wondering. "Hey, Quill." I didn't want this to turn into a huge fight and I didn't want this to sound threatening. "What's up?" he replied. "I heard you say I was a liability and a problem." I said staring out the window, not wanting to face him. Gazing out into the dark ocean sparkled with stars. Quill sighed. "I didn't know you were even awake when we had that talk. I'm sorry, man it's just I felt like we had to go over some stuff because of the whole thing with Beta." he covered his eyes with a hand in a way that suggested he had never meant for this to happen. Doesn't mean he didn't mean it. "It's fine. I can understand why you'd say that. After all it's not like I make much of a difference anyway." I had planned on keeping a tight leash on my temper however if this didn't go in a different direction that leash just might break. "You say that again, I'm gonna shoot you." he responded. "Did you involve Groot in it on purpose or did he choose that himself?" I had to know. That had felt too much like betrayal. "Honestly I don't even know when he joined the conversation. I don't know what he said about you and to tell you the truth, I don't care. You can keep that to yourself." "Of course you don't care. Why would you?" sparks of anger were starting to burn inside me and I could see how this would end. "Look, Rocket you can sometimes be a real jerk. Okay? Don't take that the wrong way." "Is there a right way to take that?" I demanded. "Can you actually blame us for saying that stuff?" Quill retorted "You could have just talked to me about it! You didn't have to go and dis me behind my back." "We can't talk to you about anything without getting our heads bitten off!" "I didn't want this to be difficult. I thought we could actually work things out." "WHO'S THE ONE MAKING IT DIFFICULT HERE?!" "YOU'RE THE ONE THAT STARTED ALL THIS CRAP!" "IF THAT WERE TRUE WE NEVER WOULD'VE HAD THAT CONVERSATION, LAB RAT!" "IS THAT HOW YOU WANT THIS TO GO YOU CROSS-BREED FREAK?!" "IT DIDN'T START LIKE THIS! YOU TOOK THIS TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL!" The argument continued and the ship filled with shouting and cussing. Until finally a voice broke through. "PLEASE, STOP IT! We're all on the same side or have you forgotten?!" Gamora shrieked. her brown eyes were stormy and I might have imagined it but I can swear I saw tears in them. "When we said those things about you, Rocket we were just trying to learn how to work as a team better. We didn't talk to you about it because we didn't want you to take it the wrong way which clearly you did." she continued then glared at Quill. "Why didn't you just tell him that in the first place instead of letting it get so far?! Why is it so hard for you two to just have a conversation?! And I know fights are bound to break out but I don't want you, or us, to go into one of those phases." I knew what she was talking about. Sometimes there will be a period of time when we just can't stop fighting and tensions are really high. Quill and I had one soon after we became the guardians. It was only a certain mission that broke through that. I felt kind of stupid. I didn't know where else to go so I just went to the tail of the ship. The farthermost area which was normally secluded. It's not like I enjoy arguing with my teammates. They're all I have. I heard someone come up behind me. "If you're here to reprimand me, do me a favor and, _don't."_ I was able to tell who it was without looking. "I just wanted to talk to you." Gamora replied in a much calmer voice then the one that had stopped our raging fight. She sat down beside me on a large steel container which nobody ever opened but I'm fairly certain there's torpedoes in there. Most likely ones I made. This was basically where we kept stuff we had no use for otherwise but Quill hadn't thrown out. A lot of the containers in here were put in so long ago nobody remembers what's inside anymore. Nor do we want to. "I know that Peter can sometimes be hopeless, and doesn't necessarily relate to people well, but you need to try to get along with your family." I personally thought that Gamora's statement was more of an understatement but I didn't comment on that. "You think I don't try? I know I have a...rather brutal disposition and quite a temper but sometimes I do try and sometimes I succeed. Not as often as I'd like." "He cares about you. I do. They all do." she stroked my head and even though my first instinct was to hiss and slash, I allowed it. "I know." I replied. This is how things work out. You run and fight, and protest but life always brings you back to where you belong. I guess that means I belong here and I guess that's a good thing. "You didn't see his reaction when we all thought you were dead. When you stopped breathing. It was total confirmation. You two may fight but he loves you as a friend and an ally." she definitely knew Quill better than I did, probably because I had never cared to know him as much as I should have. Was too busy hating him. "You should get to know him." she went on. "I do know him." I knew it was a defiant response. "Better is what I meant." Gamora defined. "I'm not apologizing if that's what you're trying to get me to do." I insisted. "I'm not trying to get you to do anything. I know it wouldn't work if I was." "You know me well." "Just think about it, okay?" The two of us sat in silence. No words needed to be spoken after that. That was the closest I could get to peace. *~* Quill and I had resolved our conflict (for the most part) by the next day. Neither of us had said sorry but I liked it that way. Lexi hadn't liked it at all but that is to be expected from someone like her, although one would think she'd be used to fighting by now, having grown up in strife and raised in violence. She was too shy, in fact I'm fairly certain the only thing that made her comfortable around us was the people she did know or at least a little bit. (me, DJ etc.) She and I had never had any reason to do battle and therefore I had no quarrel with her. I could maintain a normal friendship with her. Not too close of course, for fear of Sparrow not necessarily liking that and something tells me he's not afraid to break that promise he made to Sarah if need be. Quill had called a team meeting. My eyes were fixated on Al and a growl rose in my throat. "Rocket! Are you even listening?" snapped Quill. My head turned swiftly to them again. "uh...yeah." I lied. "No you weren't. You were plotting revenge on my owl. Did you not hear me when I said you'll want to hear this?" "No. I didn't care." "Of course you didn't" he sighed. _I don't regret it either._ I sent the message silently. He replied. _Well you might once you hear what I have to say._ I shot back a glare. _It's a good thing I won't then._ If these words were said out loud this would most certainly lead up to an argument to rival the one last night. _Oh, you will whether you like it or not._ He wordlessly answered. _You wanna come over here and test that theory?_ I wondered if he felt the same way about these talks as I did, especially since I am totally outdoing him on the retort thing by quite a lot. The team was watching what must have looked like a staring contest to them. At last, Quill spoke out loud. "Rocket, you pay attention or I'm gonna put a frickin' muzzle on you. I was talking about those creepy shadow people we saw. The ones that paralyzed you, more or less." I was infuriated by the muzzle remark but decided to hold off on it until after. "They aren't just on Craw. In fact that planet was a little lusher than they're used to. They are spread throughout the universe on various dilapidated planets that are left total wastelands. Some considered uninhabitable." images appeared on a holographic screen of decrepit, end-of-the-world looking planets and the shadow people along with several other species who lived the same way, giving them the names "waste-landers" and "carri-raiders" "Kind of reminds me of my first Christmas." Sparrow muttered to me and I tried (and failed) to stifle a laugh. Quill rolled his eyes. "Sorry. Carry on." Sparrow said in a serious way even though laughter still danced in his hybrid eyes. "They call them Tarshades. They're hard to kill, easy to get killed by, like most of our enemies. Like any waste-lander they normally eat dead and rotting food but if living prey comes into one of their 'territories' they will use their freaky mind-control power to stop them dead and they can suck the life out of you and then nobody knows what happens to the victim after that. No one's ever lived to tell the tale." "Like the relationship between me and Sarah." I had to say it and DJ didn't bother containing herself and Sparrow snickered. Sarah punched me in the ribs. "Ow! Okay I take it back!" I even saw a ghost of a smile on Gamora's face. I do wonder sometimes why she always looks so sad. Then I guess living one's entire life in Thanos' domain killing when called upon, knowing they're the last of their kind would make someone sad in life. I cared for her because she was always the one to break up the fights and to prevent the boys from tearing each other to pieces. The least we can do in return is make sure that never happens again. That she doesn't get hurt like that again. Some people said I was too angry in life. Part of that's my personality, the other part's the fact that I wouldn't even be here, wouldn't be _this_ if it weren't for a bunch of psychopaths with syringes and scalpels. I'm reminded of that every time I sleep. I was reminded of that awful planet when I saw those wastelands. Just living with that knowledge and those memories is horrific. That's why I fight. That's why I survive. **Chapter 11: Novastorm** Sarah and I were on Zelenesia, but there was something different about her eyes, intoxicating in the moonlight. She breathed heavily as I held her and gently bit her shoulder. She returned this action. Then a tall shadow spread out. She screamed. I tried to stop the tarshade, but something was stopping me. A chain tied around my neck like I was some kind of dog. I couldn't tell who held it only that they knocked me out in a matter of seconds. Panic surged through me as that awful poison was injected inside me, the sounds of Sarah being torn apart alive echoed in the alleyway. I sank to the bloodstained ground. I woke up from the nightmare crying out. I looked by my side and Sarah was there. I don't think I've ever been so relieved. I had been helpless as I watched someone I loved die. I could do nothing about it. It could have happened to anyone on this team. I don't think there was any denying it. I was in love. *~* There are very good reasons as to why I hadn't gotten emotionally involved with anyone else. And why I hadn't wanted to get emotionally involved with anyone, period. But now that I was in an intensely intimate relationship, I couldn't very well back out without doing the same thing Sarah had done to me. I hadn't told her about the dream I had last night. About the carri-raider or about the leash. That was just embarrassing. The mere thought of it sent sparks of fury into me. The worst part is that could actually happen. I don't know why the _liability_ thing has such an effect on me. I guess that argument a couple weeks ago. _If you can't follow orders then you can't be on this team._ I'm gonna die a few decades early I just know it. "So what are we doing?" I asked Quill fully intending to use a mission to keep these crazy thoughts away. "I have an idea but first we'll need to get to Delta 103." he replied and I wondered why he would be wanting to go someplace so remote. "I'll drive." I declared jumping behind the control board. "No! Get back here! Oh, never mind. Why do I bother?" Quill protested and then relented. Gamora muttered something to him which I didn't hear. Those two sure spent a lot of time together and it was obvious Quill had feelings for her. She, however, was completely against the idea of intimation, but that's none of my business anyway. I admit, half the controls are out of my reach and Quill is definitely the better driver but I needed something to be on my mind. Needed to forget even if it's just temporary. "Careful! You're gonna crash this thing!" Quill didn't take to co-piloting and clearly didn't trust me with the _Milano_ but I've driven countless ships and this one too. "Calm down, I know what I'm doing!" _Backseat driver._ Not that I didn't tell him what to do when he was driving, but I always had the better idea anyway. "Don't touch that." he grabbed my arm stopping me from pushing a button. "Why? What's it do?" I had never really noticed it before. "I'm not gonna tell ya." he replied. "All the more reason why I should, just to find out." I reached for it again slowly and again, he stopped me. "Will you just stop it with the button?!" he punched me, but not hard enough to do real damage just enough to send a message, even though Gamora hissed. " _Boys!"_ under her breath. The scary part of being on this ship was the fact that Quill could do some real damage to me. Because I was so small, he could easily snap my bones in two. They all could unless they were one of...you know. "Do _you_ even know what it does?" I inquired more cautiously this time. "Dude, I could kick you so hard right now." Quill's tone was warning enough for me to drop it. "Okay then. A little touchy today." I was a little surprised by such a strong reaction. "I did tell you that you couldn't drive the ship a long time ago. Do you remember the incident that made me do that?" he reminded me. "Are you ever going to get over that?" I asked angrily. "No. You came so close to blowing up an entire city and the _Milano_ with it!" "That was one time!" I defended myself. It's true that I almost leveled a civilization however, I did learn something that day and if it happens again it won't be my fault. "No one puts a bomb within that radius especially near like ten things that are highly flammable!" he shot back. "I did and I won't do it again! Now seeing as how I'm already behind the wheel, there's not much you could do to stop me!" I stated. "I could break your ribs." he said matter-of-factly. He probably wouldn't actually hurt me, but the words put me on guard anyway. "Peter," Gamora warned. "Drop it." "What does Quill need to let go of?" Drax questioned. That gets exhausting sometimes. "Not literally, you moron." I instantly regretted these words when the intergalactic warrior unsheathed one of his knives. "I take that back." It took all my self-control to not squeal the apology. I raised my palms to him, coming _way_ too close to being gutted which I wouldn't put past him. Note to self: NEVER GIVE DRAX THE DESTROYER A REASON TO HATE YOU! The ship shook. "Oh my gosh, what did you hit?!" Quill demanded. "Nothing! There wasn't anything on the radar either!" Not a lie. Why would this happen on the one day where I'm driving?! Different colored lightning hit the ship, and everything else within it's vicinity. It shook more violently and I was thrown backwards, down the ladder that led up to the control room. I knew exactly what this was. Anyone who's been in space knows what this is. My head pounded and I felt blood trickle down the back of it. "It's a novastorm." Gamora stated even though it needed no announcement. We all knew about them. "We need to get out of it's radius." Quill had to raise his voice to be heard over the roaring outside and the unearthly howling that rang out through the galaxy. "The only way to do that is to turn back." said Gamora. "Not the only way." his voice had the kind of determination that I didn't like to hear from him because it usually meant he was ready to do something really stupid. This was no exception. He got behind the controls and I started to worry. "What are you doing?! Are we gonna go around, cause if so that's very near impossible." I hoped I was right. I hoped with the power of a thousand hopeful stars that he was just going around. He couldn't possibly be considering..."Nope. We're gonna go straight through it." Quill's confidence was more likely idiocy or insanity, whichever one he was about to lead us to our deaths. "HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?! WE'LL BE KILLED!" Gamora screeched. "Trust me." those two words were forbidding and awful. At the same time as being an order I couldn't follow through with and never would be able to. A piece of scrap metal screeched by, suggesting we hadn't been the only ship out here and someone else had been torn apart by the rage of the universe. I couldn't do anything to stop Quill no matter how much I screamed at him. Not when he was bringing his ship closer and closer to the storm's eye. The core of the chaos. There was no tornado to match the one that was in a novastorm's eye. Yet Quill seemed to think that somehow we would make it out of this alive. Gamora was hurled forward where she slammed against the metal wall. I grabbed onto the closest thing I could find and then a thought struck me. Sarah was no where to be seen in this havoc. " _Sarah!"_ I cried a million thoughts in my head. The airlock could have broken and she could have fallen into that field of mayhem to be torn apart, something could have fallen and crushed her, she could have been flung and knocked out or mortally wounded. She seemed so vulnerable. Like I was the only thing stopping something horrible from happening to her. Then the sound of what was once a demon's roar and what was now an angel's voice shouted, "P13!" I turned and saw Sarah, except her legs were trapped under a piece of steel which I knew I could never lift. There was very little I could. I grabbed her paw and tried to pull her out from under it. The attempt was futile. Suddenly the obstacle was lifted up and I looked up at Drax who had just saved Sarah Lightning. I was too startled to show much gratitude but I would make sure to repay that debt however necessary. I embraced my lover with more intensity then ever before. I made sure she was safe but I needed to see how bad it actually was. "Please listen to me when I say this, stay here." I told her. Then ran out, scrabbling against the floor of the thrashing vessel. I had only been in a novastorm once before and it wasn't nearly as powerful as this one. The screeching was deafening and the roaring of the gravitonic hurricane winds. Outside I could see a blackhole, an endless void of infinity. Three stars imploded simultaneously and there was a flash of green. These storms were rare but when they did occur, the very fabric of the universe tore itself apart and chaos reigned. I didn't know how far the storm spread. One thing was for sure, there was no way this ship was holding together if we kept this up. "PETER! TURN BACK! PLEASE!" shrieked Gamora as she tried to make it up the ladder but failed. "I'm sorry, but I have to do this." he answered. I saw a crumpled ship get spewed out of a white hole, the connection to a black hole. It was then that I realized we should look like a crushed aluminum can by now. How was the _Milano_ not ripping apart?! Then I saw why. DJ was pushing against the sides of the ship stopping them from collapsing, and with them the guardians. She cried out with the effort but never once relented. The Thakonian was actually pushing against the storm in an ultimate strength contest. Every time the torrent gained some leeway, DJ gained it back. If we actually got out of this alive I would remember to thank Quill for bringing her here- once I finished killing him that is. Seeing that powerful, determined being, I couldn't help remembering how it had been when we lived together when we were both nothing more than children. I was a few years older than her but what did we care? _Is this really the same lost little girl who helped me break out of that prison when she was nine or ten?_

There were a couple cracks in the windows I noticed, fortunately not enough for the suffocating atmosphere to leak through. An echoing boom sounded from the back of our vessel and I knew it was probably one of those stupid torpedoes. I couldn't do anything. None of us could stop what Quill was doing and none of us could stop this novastorm from killing all of us. Sparrow was holding on to Lexi and I saw blood on the floor where they were standing. Now wasn't the time to worry about it. The noise was messing with my head so much I couldn't even think. Stopping me from realizing that Quill would never really lead us to our deaths. Stopping me from trusting him. Finally the moment approached. We entered the eye of the storm. It was completely black. As in not even starlight. And it was a cold, hopeless kind of darkness as if some awful being had taken all of the light in the universe. Space junk slammed on the surface, scratching the glass and compressing it. DJ groaned and I could tell that it was starting to be crippling. If she gave up under it's weight it would crush her and if she did live through that it would be no use the storm will have crushed her bones and the ship. "BOSS, I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" she screamed to Quill. How could he even be thinking of pressing on after this? Then I realized it was to late to turn back. The noise changed from howling to a horrific noise that was a void, and one never heard before. Like something was trying to suck up the universe. Blue fire surrounded the ship's exterior. Then I remembered something. This was either very brave or very stupid. Then again, with us they are usually one and the same. I grabbed a bomb. A really powerful one, and ran toward the airlock in the back of the ship. I opened the door to the horrible, sucking vacuum of space and threw the bomb out the airlock. I had done this before, but that was recreation. This was life and death. _Please work, please work, please work!_ Desperately holding on to a metal bar (and to hope) to prevent from being sucked in I closed my eyes. Five seconds later the bomb erupted. The airlock door closed and I gasped for air as the impact sent the ship flying out of the eye. We sailed at incredible speed before finally, emerging into a peaceful quiet. We were out of the storm. DJ collapsed onto the floor, panting and Gamora and I both crawled up the ladder where Quill was looking quite proud. "I told you I had a plan." he said in satisfaction. I didn't say anything as I approached Quill. I don't think I've ever punched anyone so hard in my life. I called him an awful name and Gamora didn't try to stop me when I hit him. Twice. "YOU ALMOST GOT MY GIRLFRIEND KILLED!" I roared. "Don't _ever_ do that to us again." Gamora gasped staggering a little and having to hold herself up on one of the chairs. DJ was still shaken up and she struggled to stand. "That was the first and last time. Don't worry." our idiot of a leader stated still having no idea what kind of thing he had just done. What element of darkest evil had consumed him to make him think _that_ was a good idea?! "You know if it weren't for Raccoon and his...weaponry we'd be dead right? And it would be your fault!" Sparrow added. I didn't want that kind of recognition. "Don't even start. What was I supposed to do, let us all die? Seriously. That was just me figuring out how I was gonna survive and if I got lucky I would be able to save you guys in the process." I answered. I hadn't done anything remotely good in my life, there was no point in letting the world believe I had. I remembered when Quill had saved Gamora's life for the first time. He had barely known this woman, she had tried to kill him and he had no real reason why he should care, and yet he had jumped out into that void to rescue her even though he knew he'd probably be killed by the vacuum or his former crew. That had been the first true justice I had ever seen and it had changed the way I looked at people. Not just Terrans but the entire universe. "By the way Rocket, you definitely are _not_ driving the ship again." remarked Quill and I rolled my eyes. It wasn't my fault about the novastorm and it's not my fault that Quill decided to go right through it. That was going to have a bad effect on his relationship. "It's not like I would've been able to prevent that from happening." I defended. "It should have showed up on the radar." he retorted. "It didn't clearly, and it's not like I ever knew how to read that thing anyway." I shot back "How have you been driving all this time then?!" "I don't know, but I'm pretty sure that it hasn't been with the %! #ing radar!" "Will you two _please_ just play nice?" Gamora ended the fight, like usual, and Drax was confused by this comment. "I wasn't aware that Quill and Rocket were 'playing' at all." I covered my eyes with a paw. "We weren't. It's just a phrase." I corrected. "I am Groot." "Sorry Groot, I know you don't like it when we fight." I responded. "See? Listen to your friend." Gamora seemed satisfied as she examined the damage done to our vessel. It wasn't too bad, given the circumstances. "I'm sorry, guys. I had to see if it would work." Quill confessed. "I am about to tell you something and I want you to listen to it very carefully." Sarah stated and I knew what she was about to say. She does this, (well, _did_ this) with me all the time. "Oohh-kay?" "Peter Quill, that was a bad idea." **Chapter 12: Shadow people** "I am Groot." "What do you mean, my attention's been too focused on Sarah lately?!" I demanded. It was rare that Groot and I argued, harmless bickering maybe but an all-out fight was uncommon. "I am Groot." "'Make love to her'?! That was one night and it didn't mean anything!" "I am Groot." "Yes, I did say she was my girlfriend last night! Why do you care?!" "I am Groot." "There is no reason why you shouldn't like her." "I am Groot." "I DON'T CARE IF SHE BROKE MY HEART AND NEITHER SHOULD YOU! WE'RE BACK TOGETHER AND YOU HAVE TO LIVE WITH IT!"

"I am Groot." "Oh, you're not talking to me now? Fine." He turned his back on me and I already felt guilty for flipping out on him. I knew that he was the one friend I could always count on and always had, if I destroyed that relationship, I don't think I could stay in the same place as him. To look into his black eyes and see...nothing, as if we had never known each other, it would kill me. I'd apologize to him later on after we had both calmed down. I left him to sit in that corner of his like usual. "Rocket, can we talk?" Quill's voice spoke through and I had no reason to refuse at this point. "Sure." "I know there's so much...tension between the two of us and we act like we hate each other and everything but it's not really like that. We're family now and back in that forest when I thought you were going to...you know, I felt something." I stared into his dark eyes which held a meaningful look and I guess I felt something too. "We just bicker and argue all the time but there's clearly some level of friendship or at least respect there." he continued. "I can be a total loser most of the time and I have no idea how to lead you or anyone else." "I'll accept you as my leader, when I know you can do it. For your sake." I told him. "I understand that." he replied. "You like being your own leader. Maybe I don't really understand it because I've lived almost my entire life following orders, mostly because I knew that if I didn't, I'd get the living daylights beat out of me." Quill said with a wry smile. "You knew when you met me, I didn't play well with others." I confessed. "Yes, I did. And you knew when you met _me_ that I was going to screw up a whole bunch before I succeeded." he stated. "I can't believe I'm hearing this from _you."_ I answered. Quill had an ego of unbelievable proportions and yet he was admitting this to me, probably his least favorite on the team. "Don't ruin the moment, you're undermining my confidence at this point." he joked. "That's what I'm here for. After all, someone had to be the one to give you a hard time, might as well be me." I said it in a joking way, but it was true. In a way, the challenges I made him go through, cost me and I figured they helped him in a way. Helped him do his job better and be a stronger commander. 

"You were right about me. The things you've said. You're right more often than I give you credit for." he explained. I got ready to leave. I broke the silence that followed Quill's confession before I did. "So are you." and without another word I walked away, having every intention of spending the rest of the night alone either sleeping or trying to sleep. I stepped outside, needing to feel the chill of the class G planet air. I didn't know what to do with the thousands of thoughts and worries that were in my head. I knew I would need to patch up things with Groot eventually and I didn't know how to do that. "Hello, Rocket." a voice said, one I didn't recognize, yet felt familiar. I whirled around, alarm flashing in my brain. I hadn't brought a weapon, which means that depending on the threat, fighting the stranger would be either very difficult or impossible. The man was deathly pale with night-black hair. His limbs were long and wiry and in the dark it was hard to make out his face from the rest of his lanky figure. "Who the # *! are you?" I swore and he didn't seem to care. "Let's just say you and I knew each other in another lifetime." his voice was taunting, messing with my head. That's when I realized I knew that voice which was sensual and cold at the same time. Another memory flashed. _I couldn't focus on anything. It was hard to after the way they had drugged me. They. Who the hell were_ they? _The room they dragged me in was almost completely white, like all the rooms in this wretched place. They had blindfolded me in addition to the muzzle they forced on me. I couldn't tell who carried me until the blindfold was ripped off and they pushed down on my shoulders until I agreed to sit down on the silver, metal table. His face was cocky, with a hard element to it. His cheeks were slightly sunken and his skin was pale with almost a grayish-blue tint to it. His hair was so dark it resembled liquid midnight. "Who are_ you?" _I asked savagely. The stranger seemed to be enjoying this, to my fury. "I've heard a lot about you, 89p13." As he walked towards me his gait had a swagger to it that no one but him could ever pull off. "I hate that name." I growled, wanting to rake my claws down that flawless face of his, but realized it would only get me tased, drugged and strapped back on a counter. "Oh, I know." he replied. I could tell this man was dangerous. I could tell he was evil. "You are so_ interesting _to me." I couldn't take it anymore. "STOP IT WITH THE MIND GAMES! JUST TELL ME WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU WANT YOU, % $? &/" The stranger chuckled. His eyes were purple, not like Sarah's but a lighter, icy, hypnotizing purple. "Extraordinary." He murmured. "I am Akir. I'm the one who is going to make sure you become everything you could be." said Akir in his smooth, supercilious voice that hid a world of corruption. "A weapon. You want to turn me and all the other disgraceful sons-of-%!?/#$ in here into weapons." I snarled at him. "Aw. Why so hostile?" he tsked. "...Rocket?" It was the first time I'd been called by that name. "Or do you prefer the one those scientists gave you?" Akir added. "Aren't you one of them?" I inquired, slightly calmer but no less mistrusting, my gaze still full of cold presentiment. Though I did appreciate not having to be called by that awful lab name. At the time, "Rocket" seemed pretty lame but I would learn to apprize the title. "You are a beast. I'm offering you more power and abilities than a small mammal of the Half-world could ever hope to imagine. The destruction you could reap could be legendary." Maybe I was an idiot to turn this down. A hundred thoughts turning in my mind. Then I thought about what that would turn me into, who would be controlling me and who would try to. Indefinitely they would find some way to make sure I never disobeyed an order from Akir...or someone worse. "Hell, no." I informed him. "_really _?" he raised his thin eyebrows. "You want me you'll have to come get me." I retorted. To my surprise, Akir wore a crooked smile at this. "Oh, it_ is _a shame you made this choice. You'd be_ perfect." _and with that he walked away through a door which I had not known was there, then someone pulled a blindfold over me and my desolate world became darker once more._ So there we stood. It was clear that neither one of us was backing down. It wasn't in my nature-and my nature was exactly what he had wanted. "I thought I made it clear to you that I won't let you turn me into one of your soldiers." I said to him. I kept my voice calm, knowing that he hadn't come alone. His people were probably everywhere. Hiding. Just waiting for me to make a wrong move, 'cause the moment that happens, if you're going up against these guys, you don't stand a chance. You're dead before you can realize you are. And Akir's soldiers didn't need a gun to kill. They had taken the offer and not cared what the repercussions might be. They had let him give them "superpowers" so they could help him create his world. What he wanted to turn this universe into was twisted, psychotic, monstrous. "I don't give up that easily." he laughed. He circled me in his snake-like way of moving. "Besides, I've been watching you. Everything you and your team have been doing. From your pointless games to your battles. It makes me wonder what can you _really_ do." his laugh was awful. Slow and quiet, like a lover, but it was laced with venom. You could see his own power pulsing in his veins, glowing purple. The encounter in the lab hadn't been our last collision. I had seen him attack. I had tried to fight him, and failed but never once became his captive. And I never would. I wasn't at all prepared to fight anyone and Akir was pretty much the worst that could happen. He played games with you, messed with your head. He wasn't just provocative. No. Gamora was provocative. There was no real word in my language for what Akir Jexanokorz the Weaponizer was. I knew how to speak his though. And I knew that language held no rejoinders either. We were from the same quadrant, that's probably why I knew how to speak Exconic. "We're the same, Rocket. I gave you your title and your abilities. It's a shame you have not made that discernment." I began to come to the perplexity as to why I was still the only one who knew that he was there. Either it was one of his "abilities" or Quill's security was completely unavailing. "I am not a weapon." I hissed. "That's where you're wrong, 89p13." there was a purple flash and I was knocked backwards into the wall hard. When my vision cleared from the staggering blow I saw that he was gone. For now, but I knew he would be back. And he would bring his _creations_ with him. I gasped and struggled through the door once more. *~* **Akir the Weaponizer's P.O.V** Akir Jexanokorz prowled through the stone door of the _Dark Aster._ His footsteps echoed throughout the dim halls. An azure-skinned woman stormed toward him. "What are you doing here, Akir?!" she demanded, her voice thick with hostility, her night-black eyes glaring. "There are matters I would like to discuss with your...commander and, as I've heard, his Betian _girlfriend_ as well. Now, unless you are looking for a fight I suggest you step aside, Nebula." Her eyes narrowed so they were slits in their metal sockets. She sidled past him. "Thank you." he gave her a nod of false appreciation. Akir knew his way around the disquieting ship he'd been here numerous times before. That didn't stop it from having a constraining air about it that made him solicit and apprehensive. Finally he came to a gray stone door with carvings and Kree hieroglyphs. Akir pushed it open and found himself in another lackluster room where a woman with long brilliant blue hair, short, curved horns, and a gray tail with a plume at the end and black and blue speckles stood staring out of a small window which undoubtedly, she had convinced Ronan to grudgingly put there. The image of that disagreement made him smile in amusement. She was truly the only lovely thing in that ship. "Ronan isn't here." she told him. "So I gathered. Do you know where he's gone, Nya?" "Where else? To Thanos' Domain." "And yet, Nebula remains here. Don't you think that's a bit...unusual?" "Yes. But it would be unwise to ask questions about whatever plans those three have." Akir could detect an edge to Nya's voice. A warning. One he would ignore. "It is those very plans I am here about." he stated. She turned to him. "I hear that you're conceiving to capture those who call themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy and transform them into one of your fighters, if that is the correct term." "Yes." "If you are trying to convince Ronan to join you, he doesn't wish to let them _live._ He wants to eliminate them completely." "That doesn't matter." "You're going to lie to him." "Well, you _are_ a perceptive one. It's actually fairly simple. Tell Ronan that if he helps me entrap them, he'll be able to kill them, then capture the guardians, take them back myself where me and some of my associates will be free to do whatever I want to them, then they'll have no choice but to help me destroy everything in this universe that doesn't deserve to exist." She looked at him with sadness in her eyes. "What makes you think you do?" Akir almost laughed. " _me?_ I'm trying to make these broken worlds the best they can be! Galaxy by galaxy, quadrant by quadrant I am going to change the universe." as he walked off he added something. It doesn't matter if Nya heard or not. "To create a better one." **Chapter 13: I Hate Love** Mission Record #479 Planet: Veikorr Quadrant: Kora Delta: 180 Class: Q Status: mountain/sub-wasteland Opponents: Bandits, Jackknife. Number: Eight Commander: Peter Quill Fighters: Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Sparrow Night, Lexi Blaze, Sarah Lightning, DJ Belladonna. Approximate chances: Unintelligible ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ I can't count how many missions I've been on. Most times we succeed. This wasn't one of those days. Corrosive acid shot out of a gun I had never even seen before. It hit Gamora. She screamed. I would have helped but I was dodging a plasma grenade. The weaponry the Jackknife bandits were using wasn't what we were used to, but we _had_ fought them before. Plasma wasn't normally used in Delta 71 and were probably smuggled out of 68. I didn't have time between bullets to see what the others were doing. All I could do was hear the explosions, and wait for the cries of pain that would suggest they were still alive. Quill's voice came through the communication device. "Rocket, what's your status?" he panted. I was hurled on a stone wall but got up just as quickly. "Really, _really_ ticked off." I managed to splutter the words even as I spat out my own blood. "Okay, good. We can work with that." he answered but I could tell he was hurt too. They all were. Then a thought struck me. "S-Sarah?" all that came back was a shriek. _Oh, gosh._ At least she was alive but who knows for how long. Then I spotted her. She was in an alleyway with no way out. She backed into a corner, hissing, her teeth bared. Just as the affronting opponent powered his firearm I blew him to scorched bits. Squishy pieces of flesh scattered the ground. In the background a woman screeched. "How many times am I gonna have to save you?" I teased grabbing her arm and pulling her behind cover. Oh, gosh, even _Drax_ was having trouble. He was fighting some B**** with brown hair, camouflage pants and black shirt. She had a knife but something told me she would fare well in a weaponless scrimmage. He grabbed one of her legs and thrashed her on either side so she slammed onto the muddy ground. She plunged her knife into the ground and used it to squirm out of her attackers grip. Pretty much the best (and really only) way to escape that move. Jackknife was a rogue organization of criminals. This wasn't the first time we've had to take them on. Normally we can kick these punks back to whatever waste-land they came from. Sometimes that doesn't always work. We don't know much about them other than they're a pain in the tail and they never go by their real names, even to each other. The leader calls himself Meltdown. That knife chick, she's Strike, the other girl's Roadkill, then there's Backlash, Axmae (the one I killed), Thresher, Battlecry and Spartan. (and you know how I feel about code names.) Meltdown kicked me in the side. I gasped, winded. I saw red as he pulled my arm behind my back. Sarah started to run towards me but I told her to stop. "YOU KILLED ONE OF US! THAT'S NOT HOW WE DO THINGS!" his voice was filled with fury and I realized, they may be doing things wrong but they're a team just like us and they were just as close with one another. Axmae had _meant_ something to them. _"We only did that because you were about to kill one of us!"_ Gamora exclaimed as she slammed into him, taking him down instantly. Then Quill ended our fight with one word, "RETREAT!" I hate admitting defeat but I looked around at the battleground and came to the realization that we didn't stand much of a chance. We ran to the ship and got away from there as fast as we could. I heard Thresher call out the victory cry. "Why'd you do that?! I had him!" came Gamora's furious inquiry.

"None of us had them. One of us and/or all of us were going to be killed. We broke the rules. Or rather, _Rocket_ broke the rules," he glared at me.

"I was protecting Sarah!" I defended myself.

"Thanks to you, Lover-boy, those guys have a real reason to hate us!" he chastised.

"I thought they always hated us." Lexi stated.

"My guess is now they hate us _more,"_ Sparrow muttered to her.

I figured I was probably in trouble for Axmae's murder. That's two killings I wasn't supposed to make in less than six months. _Hey, at least I still got it._ I told myself the only bright side. (and, by now you should know I normally don't look into the "bright side.") "I know that sometimes it can be hard, especially when they're threatening people we care about," Quill sighed gesturing toward Sarah. "But we can't be killers anymore. We've all done it, but we made a promise to the Nova corp and we'vedone our best to keep it." _Yeah, right._ People tended to be a little...judgmental after the conversation in which we made that promise. Losers. "I'm not sorry." I retorted spitefully. "I know you aren't. You wouldn't apologize if your life depended on it, which, in a way it does." he answered. There is that. The way I saw it, I was defending one of our own. We're supposed to be able to do that, right? But, Axmae was no older than twenty. Would he really have done it? The realization that I had killed someone so young slowly settled on me. As if I needed another thing to be ashamed of. Over time, I had learned to kill without mistake- or regret. Sometimes though... something happens. The victims get stuck in your head and haunt your dreams. Sometimes it's the way they screamed as they went down, maybe it's the expression they wore as the lights left their eyes. It might even be their friends reaction. I remembered hearing Roadkill's devastated shriek. Yeah, Axmae would be one of those victims. I can't say I can recall everyone I've killed. I don't feel their dying pain with every day I'm breathing, like Sparrow does. That's either because I've killed less or because I really don't care, which sounds pretty evil when you say it like that, maybe I don't care about that either. which also sounds evil, but, hey, it is what it is am I right? "Look. Believe it or not I get it. Okay?" the half-Terran told me. "I don't think you do." I shook my head at him and walked away. No one tried to pursue me, to my relief. I needed to be alone. Away from Sarah, away from Quill and the memory of the battlefield. *~* Four days later I sat down on the bed, Sarah watching her purple gaze replete with concern. "Are you okay?" she questioned, cautiously. " _Yeah, Just fine!_ We've got legioners from one quadrant, _Betians_ from another, _not to mention_ _Jackknife!_ Then there's this virus threatening to wipe out an entire delta! Quill's ?!$$#/) at me because of all this so YEAH SARAH! I'M JUST GREAT!" I took all my anger out on her in one blow. My girlfriend (yes she's my girlfriend, now.) looked hurt. "I'm sorry, Sarah I didn't mean to-" I started. "No. Don't apologize. You're right. I shouldn't care about you or be worried about you." she turned her back to me. "Don't be like that." I said, frustrated. "You know I can't stay mad at you anyway." "Unless it's a time period of ten or so years we're talking." "Oh, for the last time, that wasn't your fault." I gave her a pointed look. "Mostly." she added. "That's more like it." "I missed this though." it took me a moment to realize that she meant she was talking about the more. . .physical aspects of the relationship. "Like...what we've been doing?" I've never been good at having this kind of conversation. She knows I can't talk sex. Not in the traditional sense, that is. "Don't tell me you didn't miss it too." "Okay maybe I did a little bit." she gave me a smile that was a little too much. "It's not like we waited too long." Sarah pointed out. "They say that relationships that cut right to the chase like that never work out." I put in. "Sure they do. Someone also said that Terra was the only planet in the universe." "Where did you hear that?" "Star-lord." "Sure he wasn't lying?" "Well, so were they." I laughed. She brought a good point though. "Is it always as crazy as it is right now, babe?" she asked me. "Sarah, how many times do I have to tell you? I have a rule about what you can call me. I let you do whatever you want to my body and you can call me by my lab name but you _can't call me baby!"_ "Sorry. I don't get what your problem is though." "I just. . .don't know how to be in a relationship. I never learned how to. . . love, if you know what I mean." "And somehow me calling you that affects everything?" "Yes! No. I don't know! Just for now Sarah, please respect the Babe Rule? "And to answer your original question, Yes. It IS usually this chaotic." There was a moment of silence. Each one of us just waiting for the other one to make a move. It only took a couple of seconds. Animal side clawing at my insides, I grabbed her so fast she didn't even see it coming. Our muzzles collided, and pretty soon our tongues and lips were in a deathlock. Of all the time we'd been together, even before she left, we had never gone all the way. I didn't have the strength to do it. Or maybe it was just the opposite. Maybe I was too strong. The way I was taking her down right now, I knew why. If we do that, there's no going back. I knew I was probably using her. Even as her paws run up and down my body and mine run up and down hers, I want to kiss her but I want to kill her, I want to touch her but I want to hurt her. What kind of relationship is that? For some reason this made me think of something Quill once said to me, "You're lucky you took the other road. 'cause before you know it you'll end up tangled up with some %!? # you hate." _Well, Quill. You should've learned._ I guess there's no going back. I couldn't wait anymore. She couldn't. She tore off my shirt with her very claws. I was choking on her mouth and my exhilaration. I don't trust anyone, yet I'm trusting this girl with my body in a way that I know I should be hating like I hate everything. Killing like I kill everything. Breathless, fleeting moments passed through the seemingly nonexistent distance between us. At this point, I could be nothing more than her drug and she could be nothing more than mine. My stomach twisted, my heart pounded, and my brain screamed at the rest of me to stop. To let her go. But the rest of me couldn't. She was controlling the rest of me with those amethyst devil eyes and claws stained with the blood of bleeding hearts and broken bodies. Before I knew it, my unclothed body was at her mercy completely, and hers was at mine. We had both known it would come to this. My tongue was acting as a vent for lust, pouring into her, and she was enjoying every second of this. Every touch fed the fire roaring in my core. Metal to metal, pelt to pelt, fang to fang, the battle between male and female raged throughout the night. I hate love. I _really_ hate love. **Chapter 14: The Team Doesn't Gotta Know.**

I woke up that morning feeling like a total train-wreck. I didn't even want to _think_ about last night. Sarah was beside me looking very beautiful and very. . .naked. I felt vulnerable without my clothes on so I got dressed being careful not to disturb her and left the room. Leaving her alone. She might wake up and be hurt but in this case that was okay. Anything but stick around in that bed which was like a dark paradise at this point. One of those things I loved and hated at the same time. Or maybe one of those things I loved but wanted to hate. Sarah Lightning was kinda both. (I know that doesn't make a bit of sense but like what- _EVER_.) If Quill, (or anyone else in the team for that matter) found out that me and Sarah had had sex, I would probably break us up. The first time is always the most intense I had heard. Then, you get used to it. I don't want to. The worst part of this was. . . I _loved_ it. And with me, that's not always a good thing. In fact, I can't think of something I love that _is_ a good thing. We had made out before and slept with each other but not in the way she wanted. I had denied her every time under the guise of, "we don't gotta rush things" but. . . ten years is a long time to wait. Especially for her. There was one thing I had learned by having her back, it's that, she had never stopped loving me, even when I had stopped loving her. Let's get one thing straight, people who love me, they get hurt. By me and the rest of the universe. The team brought me with them on this team. That was their first mistake. Then, they trusted me. Then finally, they loved me. One day I'm gonna screw things up really bad so that they'll regret the day they ever met me. They'll want to kill me. Happens every time. Sarah was another matter. Sometimes it was hard not to think intimate thoughts about her. Or watch her when she moved. Her soft black and silver fur and small waist had a surprisingly sensual effect on me. Her side bangs covering half of one eye. _I'm no better than Quill or DJ!_ I realized. I put the thoughts out of my mind. I hoped that those weren't triggered by the primary side of me. The side that _wasn't_ an animal. Lexi and Sparrow seemed very happy with each other. I was happy for them. It didn't matter much if Sparrow and I had hated one another (and probably still do) anymore. Quill and Gamora were clearly turning into something. It all was starting to make sense. Which is a good thing in my book if you hadn't noticed by now. Well, it almost all made sense. For reasons unbeknownst to the rest of us DJ and Drax have been speaking to each other more frequently. I'm not saying they're going to get together or anything, after all, it's not hard to guess that after what happened the first time Drax will be quite hesitant to take another lover. No offense to him but sometimes it could be hard to tell that guy was actually married. I'd never bring it up around him of course because I'd like to keep my head. I can't see Sarah breaking up with me, so if it was ever going to happen I would need to be the one to do it and I would rather not especially since it was just getting serious again. Maybe I should have gotten her to take some kind of pill or something because oh gosh, a baby. . .

"You're up early." a voice said behind me. I practically jumped out of my skin. "Gamora! You almost gave me a heart attack!" I said as I turned to her. Even when she's not trying to be stealthy she is! But then again, she is an assassin. "Couldn't sleep." not a lie. "Is there any night you _can_?" she raised an eyebrow. I smiled. "Hey, it's not like I can help it." "Yes but you keep the rest of us awake with your caterwauling." "I do not caterwaul!" "How would you know? You're asleep when it happens!" There was laughter in our voices and we both knew it was a friendly argument. "You weren't in the Sleeping Quarters last night." she stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "I needed a break from it." A lie but one she believed and understood. "Neither was Sarah." I swallowed. "I didn't know that." she gave me a flat look and the tone of the entire conversation had changed. "Why are you so embarrassed about it? I'm glad you're finally with someone!" "You're all glad about it. I don't _need_ you to be glad about it!" _Because then you'll be sad and disappointed in me if we break up._ I mentally added to my sentence but didn't say the words. "We just want you to be happy." she sighed. Stupid, stupid love. "Well, now you know where you went wrong." I went outside and slammed the door. **Sarah's P.O.V**

Sarah Lightning woke up that morning alone. Last night had been amazing, but she hadn't been able to shake the feeling there was something wrong with the way Rocket'd been making love to her. She had tried to fight it but chestnut eyes, his muscles rippling beneath his dark, rich fur, she had known there would be no holding back.

She hadn't bothered protesting when he grabbed her. She longed for him to hold her close. His scent lingered on the opposite side of the bed-and on her. Yes, she had fallen for Rocket Raccoon _way_ harder than she had ever fallen for Sparrow. Even if Rocket didn't feel the same way about her. He was even sexier than Sparrow. _I'm sorry, Baby. Sorry that I love you and sorry that I came back._ She would need to tell him that one day. Sarah had told herself that she would leave him alone. That she would leave and never come back but that hadn't happened. She couldn't find the strength in herself to let Rocket forget her. Besides she had spent the ten years she wasn't with him stalking him. He didn't know that either. All she had told him had been true about why she left, about Sparrow, about her lover's team. That didn't mean Rocket knew everything. It could very well be that Sarah hooking up with him again was only hurting him more than her not being there. He might hate her. He might kill her one day. No, not might. _Definitely_ will kill her one day. The only thing she regretted was leaving. He may indeed be regretting ever kissing Sarah let alone taking her to bed. She pulled on her clothes and stared into a mirror. Her fur was spiky and unkempt from where Rocket had touched her. She ran a black, plastic comb through it. Sarah couldn't help wondering, _was last night really a one-time thing? Are we going to break up?_ She missed Rocket right now with him just in the other room almost as much as she did when she was alone watching him through the window of her pod. A too-small circle which had become her world. Not anymore. Now the window-her world-was destroyed along with the pod. Perhaps for the best. He called her his girlfriend and that was comforting. He didn't let her call him baby and for the longest time, he refused to have sex with her. Why would he change one of the rules regulating their relationship now, at the most fragile time in it? A/N: If you like Sarah's P.O.V's I'll have you know I am working on a story from her perspective called, "Call Me Heartbreaker." Please don't ask for me to make her P.O.V's longer or to make more of them 'cause remember, this is Rocket's story! *~* **Rocket's P.O.V** **(Again)** Gamora didn't know specifically that Sarah and I had gone all the way. She just knew I slept with her. She probably _suspected_ that we had. And it's probably a strong suspicion. . .a _really_ strong suspicion. Okay, she probably knows. That didn't matter though. She's not the sort of person to spill secrets anyway. And fortunately, Sarah isn't the sort of chick to kiss-and-tell. It just made me go a little red under my pelt when it came to talking to either of them. I couldn't take time to worry about that anyway. Not when we were about to go for a final take-down with these tarshades. "Quill, don't you think we should wait a bit longer I mean, we know practically nothing about these things, we don't know where else they live, we don't know what kills them, and we don't know how powerful they really are!" I stated the obvious. "Did we need to know what killed Ronan to kill him?" he asked. "Well, no, but we almost _died_ killing him." "Look, if I had a unit for all the times we _almost_ died-" "I know, I know we wouldn't even have to keep up this job, but I'm just saying that it might be easier if we knew a little bit more about those life-sucking waste-landers." "You're right. But that doesn't change my decision. We're gonna fight 'em and we're gonna fight 'em today." Quill answered in his, and-that's-an-order-voice. (To be truthful adding the words "that's an order" doesn't necessarily increase the possibility of us following an instruction)

We'd been training for this for three weeks. I couldn't help being excited. There are few things I like more than gunfire. "Are you scared?" DJ teased. "You wish." I laughed. If anyone was scared it would be Lexi, standing holding her sword, nervously. Sparrow was comforting her, or trying to. I couldn't tell what he was saying from this distance or if it was working or not.

Well, we were probably all a little scared but we'd never admit that to each other. Mission Record #480

Planet: Tern-kad Quadrant: Gahjeer Delta: 303 Class: T

Status: Waste-land Opponents: Alien scavengers, Tarshades, Carri-raiders. Number: Unknown Commander: Peter Quill Fighters: Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Lexi Blaze, DJ Belladonna, Sparrow Night, Sarah Lightning. Approximate chances: Somewhere in the middle. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ _No one's lived to tell the tale._ The memory of those words Quill had said popped into my head. I remembered those creatures stopping me dead in my tracks. Recalled looking into their gaping mouths, a void of fangs and doom. Slimy creatures with no eyes. If it weren't for the whole mind-control thing I would've said this would be easy. Of course when I say that I'm wrong. Most of the time. Unfortunately, today wouldn't be an exception. When I stepped onto the planet my organs had somehow knotted together in one tight ball of anxiety, but I wasn't about to back out now. I've never backed down from a fight in my life, unless of course, Quill calls the retreat but never on my own. The ground was gray and rocky, the landscape dotted with partially-eaten carcasses and space-junk. There wasn't a tree in sight. To think I used to live like this and Akir Jexanokorz _does_ live like this. It's a disgraceful, illicit way to live. I remembered having to tear apart other beings to survive. Now that I really think about it, maybe there's more to Akir's goal and heart than what it seems. An evil, twisted, mentally-disturbed waste-lander. Living like that might do that to someone. This might give me a new perspective on carri-raiders. Whether that's a good thing or not, I will never know. I never really thought about my enemies' lives and emotions. I didn't let myself wonder why they might be "evil." For a long time I was what one might call "evil." I'll probably never understand what the universe's definition of that term is. "Moral standards" and the like. A red, rabid-looking, hairless canine came up to me. It's fangs were rotting and it's skin was obviously mange-ridden. The dogs ribs (and all the other bones) could be seen beneath it's neglected hide. It growled and I hissed and swiped my claws across it's muzzle. It whimpered and ran off. "Well, this is. . .depressing." said Gamora, cautiously. "Tell me about it. I used to live in a place like this." I replied. "In here it's kill or be killed. The creatures who live here, they don't even know the meaning of the word justice. And don't think they have any kind of code or regulations. Here _anything's_ legal." _Akir, Akir, Akir._ "That might explain-" Quill stopped short. He didn't finish his sentence and I didn't bother pressing. When it came to my past, things tended to get a _little_ touchy. Tern-kad's surface was overcast in glistening, black dust that rose in clouds when the wind blew. Peaks of gray rock were scattered across the dilapidated world. The starless sky was black but dark grayish-purple in the horizon. The clouds were purple. I didn't like the memories that this place brought back. I didn't like memories, period. **Chapter 15: The Final Take-down** So this was how it was gonna go. We were armed with every weapon we could fit on our bodies. Concealed, or otherwise. Various species of carri-raiders could be seen, some beautiful, some grotesque, some that were just. . .odd. Many of them were hairless. Insects were a very common sight, as DJ squealed when a seven-inch long blue centipede crawled over her boot. Gamora (and me) rolled her eyes. "It's a _bug_ , D, it can't _do_ anything." I said. I know, she's a Thakonian, she's got super &!# /^ing strength it's a little ironic that she'd be afraid of a centipede.

Then I thought about it, about this world and decided that the insect _was_ likely venomous but best not to tell her that. "So, what do we do now?" Sarah questioned. "We wait." replied Quill. *~* We built our fire but I didn't stick with them. I stood up and wanted to explore this world further. "Rocket, remember what I've told you. Be careful and if you see anything that's trying to kill you, come back and all of us will go take it down. You understand?" My commander chided. "Yeah, yeah I got it." There was a skeleton lying half-buried in the black sand. A roach scuttled out of the eye socket. The bones had been picked clean by scavengers. It didn't look like anyone I knew but it was a disquieting sight all the same. A faintly glowing blue moon was the only visible light source and, given that circumstance, it was lighting it up decently. (I'll have you know that doesn't mean it was luminous in any way. It was dark. Very dark. It's just, thanks to that moon, I could see my paw in front of my face. I could see a huge black mountain in the distance, it had a sharp peak and it towered over the other pointed columns of rock. Hell, even that had a foreboding air about it. Then I saw one. In the distance, tall terrifying and slender. At first I thought I should go back but then I thought, _Hey, Quill only said to come back if anything's trying to_ kill _me. This thing isn't._ This is probably known as loopholing but, what do I care? I slowly began to stalk toward it. As long as it didn't know I was there, there was no need for alarm. I was about twenty feet away from it. The tarshade turned and I hid behind a large, oily navy rock. A cold sweat ran from the back of my neck. It approached me and went behind the stone. I made the mistake of turning my head toward it. It was looking right at me! _It doesn't know I'm here. It's blind._ I reassured myself but it didn't do much good. I couldn't hear anything over the pounding of my own heart and the rushing of blood in my ears. I squeezed my eyes shut. _Blind,blind BLIND!_ The silent cry rang out in my head. I needed to prevent myself from losing it. I tried not to think of my first encounter with these things. I could hear it clicking it's tongue. Then a horrible thought entered my mind. _Can they hear a heart beating?_ The clicking ceased. I slowly opened my eyes. The tarshade was gone. I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. I heard awful sounds emanating from the opposite side of the rock. It was feeding on the carcass of one of those hairless dogs. I could hear the crunching of bone, the biting of meat and the slurping of blood. It made me feel like I was about to be sick. I couldn't help but imagine my body in place of the prey and those teeth tearing through my flesh. I shuddered. There was only one way out of this. I slowly began to make my leave, careful not to make a sound as my hind claws scraped on the stone and sand. _$#!?._ I cursed myself a thousand times over for ever doing this. As soon as I thought it was safe to, I ran back to the team. "There'saTarshadeoverthere!itwaseatingbutthenitstopped'causeIwashidingbehindarockthenIranhere!" I blurted out, gulping air from running. "I have no idea what you just said but there's a Tarshade over there, in case you didn't know." Quill answered. I slammed my palm into my face. "So. . .what do we do about it?" Sarah asked. "We do what we came here for." "Do you know what you're doing?" "I have a plan." _Great. We all know what happens when he has a plan._ "An _entire_ one?" Gamora raised an eyebrow. "Yes actually." _Oh GREAT. The only thing worse than Peter Quill having a partial plan, is Peter Quill having an entire plan._ I thought. "Well, 79 or so percent of one." he added. It _was_ certainly more than our usual. By now you probably know, I like to know what I'm doing. I like having things planned out. However, I've had to improvise more than normal since this team came to be. (In case you didn't notice.) "Are you ready, team?" Quill asked us. There were several groans in response to him calling us "team". "I'll take that as a yes." he continued. "Now, I'll go up there than the rest of you will wait for my signal." More groaning. We _hate_ the signal. No one likes the signal. "Please tell me your going to change the stupid signal?" I inquired. "No." he responded dismissively. "What's the signal?" Sparrow inquired. I looked at him resoundingly. "Signal." *~* That was the word that rang out about twenty minutes later. When me and my crewmates moved in on the Tarshade. No one said a signal with as much confidence and intensity as Quill said his. " _SIGNAL!"_ he shouted across the black sand and dead things. "Just one this time?" Gamora unsheathed her weapon. "Let's not declare victory before the battle's fought." even though you could see quite plainly he was very trusting that we would win this fight. "DJ! See if you can make it behind this dumb walking oyster!" he ordered. "Sure thing, Boss!" she said, eyes shining with the exhilleration of the battle and stolidity. Part of me wondered what an oyster was and I made a mental note to ask Quill at the end of the attack. For just one of them, it was surprisingly hard to take down. I shot it right in the divet where the right eye would have been but that just ticked it off. Gamora hacked it's leg and was flung to the side. Holes were being torn in it's sleech-covered skin by the half-minute. Bulletholes and blade wounds alike. Sparrow threw dagger after dagger at it. Of course, almost every one of them hit where it was supposed to. He never misses. At least from what I've seen. IT JUST WOULDN'T DIE! Thick, gooey black blood splattered the ground. Its ethereal screeches of agony pierced the cold, dank air. Lexi had been bitten by those razor-sharp teeth the color of pitch. _Oh, please don't be poisonous._ I was thrashed by it from side to side. The planet a blur of grimy rocks, gaunt creatures and dark colors. Terror started to take over. My head was dizzy as it carried me in its mouth. Its _mouth._ Like some sort of vicious dog. Pain seared through my side as I slammed into a pointed rock. At last it dropped me. For a moment I hurtled through the air than hit the dust, hard. I grabbed my gun, and shot at it about ten times. Six misfires. _If we can't fight one, how in the name of Glin are we supposed to fight more than one?!_ My ears rang. Drax, Gamora, and Lexi all slashed at it. Not completely in vain though. It was bleeding. If it could bleed it could be killed. Than, Quill put a gun barrel in it's mouth. "Shut the  &^#! up." he shot. A green, lethal beam of light blasted inside the tarshade. Its head began to glow with a greenish light. The light grew continually brighter until finally, the beam blasted all the way to the back of it's throat and out the other side of it's head. "Wow." Gamora's word pretty much summed up what had just happened and I told her so. Then, I said something that summed up what happened next. A single loud, foul, curse word as I saw across a ridge, twelve black tarshades. An entire pack. All vengeful, all brutal, all with a thirst for violence. "I should have asked for more for this one." Quill groaned. They charged. I was able to dodge most of them on all fours, but one kicked me with there stick-skinny, powerful legs. Winded, I stood up to face our scrimmagers. They were all as tall as Groot, some even taller! At this point it may be said that we didn't stand a chance but, if there's one thing Quill's taught me it's that, "You always stand a chance." That and "All the best heroes die young" but that's probably not what's gonna win this thing. That guy does like to hear himself talk but sometimes he has something to say worth hearing. The good thing about fighting the same enemy twice is that, now we had been able to memorize how they fight, block and defend and, the most crucial thing, their weak spots and their strengths. Clearly, the place that's the one place you mostly try to avoid-their mouth-is also where their weakest spot is. Unfortunately for us that's also where the fangs are. Not to mention the life-sucking thing. I saw DJ, her face was turned toward the creatures open maw. Paralyzed like I had been. The clammy fingers were around her waist, pulling the girl from Thakon closer and closer to its dripping fangs. "NO! DJ! WAKE UP!" my words were drowned out by a scream. I couldn't even figure out if that had came from one of ours or one of them. DJ's silver eyes were glassy and dim inside. Quill tackled the monster and she woke from the trance with a gasp. The luster returned in her eyes, and she turned to help Drax. Quill took down that one the same way he'd killed the first. Lexi and Sparrow were battling one in perfect synchrony with one another. Each one matching the other one blow for blow. They must have fought together so many times they'd memorized each other. Lexi knew what Sparrow was going to do before he even did it and Sparrow knew the same about Lexi. The couple was actually gaining on it. Then I saw Groot. He had four Tarshades impaled, hurling them into the ground and stone. I love when he uses that move. Their chilling shrieks echoed beyond the horizon. "Rocket!" Quill caught my attention. My head snapped up. "Oh yeah." two words and I knew exactly what he meant. I grabbed two machine guns and went to town on them, bullets flew and my battlecry sounded. I love guns. A lot. Despite the pressure, I couldn't help but be enjoying that. There were two left. That's all. Just two carri-raiders left standing. "If I were you, I wouldn't stick around." Quill informed them and one left without hesitation, the other one paused. _"You may have won this time, Guardians but this will not be the end of our war. We will clash again when you make it to the Weaponizer."_ it roared before following its companion. There was a silence. Tar-like blood stained the waste-land, parts of our opponents lay scattered. Even now though, DJ Belladonna wasn't at a loss for words. "That. Was. AWWEEESOOOME!" she exclaimed and, inwardly, I agreed with her. Quill than proceeded to punch DJ on the ground. **Chapter 16: (Almost) Back to Normal** I thought about what that last tarshade had said. _Weaponizer. Clash again when you make it to the Weaponizer._ I really hope that means anything. Not, it couldn't possibly be. . .Akir the Weaponizer? I pushed the thought out of my mind. After all, how could he manage to get frickin' tarshades on his side too? I ignored the fact that it actually made sense. They were both waste-landers, he could've worked out some way to negotiate with them. He had a way with words, that Akir. A way of getting what he wanted from just about anyone through cons and trickery. Quill was probably thinking about it even more than me. His problem (at least one of them) was ever since he'd taken up this responsibility, he tried to conquer every enemy, solve every problem, save every life and bring an end to every disaster. He should remember that, until Ronan showed up, the universe was doing pretty good without the Guardians of the Galaxy. Not to say it's not doing much _better_ now because, take it from me, IT IS. I guess it was a good thing we had a leader with that kind of drive. I wondered where that side of him had been for those twenty-six years. Then again, I had no idea where any of this had been in me when I was in the bounty hunting business. *~* When I opened the door to Quill's room, I knew he was talking to DJ so I expected that, what I didn't expect to see was Peter Quill and DJ Belladonna making out on the bed like the universe depended on it. I stood my jaw dropped as I saw the two of them grappling one another, kissing as if they would never kiss again. Quill's hand ran down her slender, marked body, from her blonde hair to the end of her shorts and she gasped from her position on top of him.

Upon noticing me, Quill tossed DJ off of him. "Am I interrupting something?" I asked suggestively.

Quill sighed, irritated. "I don't know Rocket. You tell me."

"The way I see it, you already walked in on Sarah and I so in a way, this is only fair."

DJ giggled from where she was to the side of the bed. "Could'ya maybe, you know, _GET OUT?"_ Quill cited angrily.

I raised my palms to him. "I'm going, I'm going." when I was almost out the door I turned to him one more time. "You know she's like eighteen right?"

"ROCKET!" he threw something at me and I dodged it and slammed the door.

It was disgusting for sure especially given the fact that they really hadn't known each other for very long but I mean, this is _Peter Quill_ we're talking about here. He doesn't need to know a chick for more than an hour before he wants to have sex with her. The playboy never really could tell if the woman wanted the same thing, or if he was intimidating her or not. One thing was for sure, DJ sure as hell wanted his. . . mating rituals. I guess a cocotte belongs with a cocotte, but that doesn't mean they're happy with each other. I tried to stay out of my team's personal lives (especially Quill's. Yuck.) anyway so the best idea would be to not call attention to it and try not to think about it. That would soon become extremely difficult because as I would learn, they couldn't keep their cursed hands off each other! Though she wouldn't admit it, you could tell that Gamora was bothered by Quill's new dalliance. She wasn't talking to DJ much (not that she ever payed much attention to her before.) and she would often walk away in a rush and slam a door whenever they were making out or flirting, or even talking dirty to each other. I assumed she was crying when that happened but there was never any proof of that. Of course, Quill's coquetry had always been annoying to us but this was different, due to the fact that he and DJ were a lot alike in that respect. Shameless, dignityless, and cocky. Then again, it was Gamora's own fault that she wasn't Quill's girlfriend. After all, for a long time when we first joined he'd tried to acquire her and she had been quite insistent on that not happening. _You really can't have it both ways, Woman._ I thought. I really did feel bad for her though. But I didn't like sympathy so I pushed the thoughts away for now.

DJ had even taken Gamora's copilot seat.


End file.
